


Verboten

by ayamari_no_goshi



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Attempted Kidnapping, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Folklore, Gen, Ghost Zone (Danny Phantom), Ghosts, Horror, Minor Character Death, Not beta read - possible minor errors, Paranormal, So I heard you like folklore, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Things get weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-04-12 21:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 85,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21665209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayamari_no_goshi/pseuds/ayamari_no_goshi
Summary: AU. When Danny was five years old, he went missing for 2 weeks. In the years that follow, his family tried to make sense of what happened, only for the truth to be discovered years later.
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Sam Manson
Comments: 99
Kudos: 217





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is cross-posted on FF.net with the story ID of 13065695. I am also cross-posting on Tumblr - https://ayamari-no-goshi.tumblr.com/tagged/Verboten. Feel free to message me regarding questions, theories, or folklore used. My current job causes me a lot of stress, so I cannot guarantee regular updates. 
> 
> Regarding the story, this is an AU. I have been listening to stories regarding strange unexplainable disappearances within the forests not only in my home country, but around the world. The strange facts of the cases combined with some old folklore have stirred some ideas in my mind, so this is what was created. 
> 
> My only advice to you is not to follow the beckons of the strange things that lurk in the woods. Do not touch them, and do not touch anything they may offer you. 
> 
> With that, let us begin.

Verboten  
(adjective of German origin. Meaning: forbidden, especially by an authority)

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he was five years old, Danny went missing for two weeks. 

Most of the time when a child goes missing, either they get lost or they are taking by something or someone. In Danny’s case, those involved tended to believe it was the former, but there were a few details which caused the veteran searchers to scratch their heads. 

All parties involved, Danny, his family, and the men and women who searched for him, agreed on the most basic details. Danny and his family were visiting his mother’s sister Alicia at her home in Arkansas. The house sat on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. While her five acres had been cleared of most of the trees to allow for some farming, an old forest surrounded most of the property. 

That particular day in early August, his aunt took him and his older sister, Jasmine, out to pick some blackberries. Although Alicia was best known for her rhubarb pies and jams, she also made incredible blackberry pies, and according to her, the best blackberries were found about a mile away from the house inside the woods. 

She was a tough woman who knew the dangers of the woods and would always carry protection with her. Before she took her niece and nephew with her, she clearly warned both of them they needed to stay within eye sight of her and listen to her. Her instructions were stated in front of both of their parents, who were able to collaborate it for the police report. In this instance, she also took a walkie-talkie with her as a precaution. When asked about the communication device, she reported it wasn’t normal for her to bring one, but something in her gut told her she might need it that day.

The three of them left around nine in the morning and reached the patch of blackberries in about forty minutes or so. The three of them picked berries until their baskets were full. As they were getting ready to leave, Alicia caught sight of Danny looking up at a squirrel in a nearby tree. She glanced towards Jasmine to make sure she was good to go, but as she turned to call to Danny, he was no longer there. 

A few choice curses escaped her as she began to look around and call out for her nephew. Jasmine assisted her but couldn’t offer any information regarding her brother. She hadn’t seen anything strange.

After several minutes of frantic searching, Alicia contacted her sister, Maddie, and her husband, Jack, through the walkie-talkie. Although she could hear Jack yell in the background, Maddie, while obviously shaken, was able to get in touch with the local sheriff. If Alicia had to guess, either her sister wasn’t initially frantic due to shock, or she was able to remind herself she needed to keep calm until she could talk to the police. 

Within the hour, Alicia and Jasmine were back at the house. About thirty minutes later, the police and a team of search and rescue folk had arrived. By this time, it had been almost three hours since Danny had gone missing. 

After the officers took the statements from Alicia, Jazz, Maddie, and Jack, the men asked Alicia to lead them to the area where Danny was last seen, and she gladly agreed. Although Maddie and Jack wanted to go as well, they were told to stay at the house with their daughter. She hid it well, but Alicia was glad they stayed behind. Jack was bumbling and too loud for his own good, and Maddie, as brilliant as she was, could easily get sidetracked if something interested her scientific curiosity. 

When the group arrived at the berry patch, Alicia pointed out the place where she last saw her nephew as the search and rescue team began their process of systematically combing the area. One of the officers led her back to her house before he returned to the search. The waiting began after that. 

Hours passed, and no word was received. Maddie’s shock wore off, and she picked a fight with her sister. Alicia couldn’t blame her, and she was also angry at herself. She knew those woods could be dangerous, but her overconfidence in her own abilities might have caused her nephew to vanish. 

Sometime during the search, one of the police offers asked Alicia about her ex-husband. The two had a very nasty divorce the previous year, but to her knowledge, he had left the state and moved to a city somewhere. Since the split had been volatile, the police wanted to get in touch with him as a precaution as there had been previous cases where an ex had abducted a family member. Although she gave him the information, she knew it wouldn’t amount to anything. Although she had several choice words regarding her ex, she knew he didn’t have the backbone to harm her nephew.

Day turned into night, and night turned into day. There were no signs of the boy. The search and rescue dogs could only follow his scent so far before they just laid down in defeat. Unnerved by their responses, the rescuers continued to search for other means. The police and searchers did make periodic updates with the family and were at least able to assure them that there did not seem to be signs of a bear or coyote attack. 

Days continued to pass, and even with the searchers using infrared radar and overhead searches, there were still no signs of the boy. The press had somehow gotten word of the case and had swarmed the house and demanded interviews with the police, searchers, and family. Instead of being helpful, they were more akin to pests who just got in the way. 

After a week, the search started to die down. The professionals had been called away for another case, but offered their sincerest apologies before they departed. The police also were forced to turn their attention elsewhere. There were still volunteers out searching for the boy, but with the amount of wilderness, it was unlikely they would find anything. 

Maddie and Jack were crushed. Alicia couldn’t imagine how they felt. The child was their own flesh and blood. Jack, who was usually boisterous and cheerful was now sullen and quiet. She found him tinkering with some of the spare junk parts she had. He said he was trying to make a radar of some sorts, but she thought he was just keeping himself busy to keep from breaking down. During the mornings, she sometimes found him wandering the perimeter obviously looking for Danny. Maddie turned most of her attention to her daughter to try to keep her calm.

Jasmine, on the other hand, knew full well something was wrong. The girl was bright and always seemed smarter than what was expected for a child of seven. She wanted to help with the searches, but she was wisely told she couldn’t, and accepted the explanation that her parents would not be able to handle it if she vanished too. 

…..

Nine days after Danny’s disappearance, the Fentons were supposed to return to their home in a different state. The family was hesitant to leave without any sort of closure. Luckily, Maddie and Jack had a flexible job, and it would still be a few weeks before Jasmine needed to return to school. Alicia didn’t argue with their decision, and just made sure to make a list for more provisions for them.

……

On the dawn of the fifteenth day, Alicia and the Fentons were awoken by frantic banging on her front door. Agitated, she opened it to find an excited yet somewhat perplexed police officer in front of her. Sirens could be heard in the background.

“Ma’am, are the Fenton’s available?” he asked as he removed his hat. 

“Yes. Should I brew some coffee? Or pour a shot?” Her eyes narrowed as she appraised the man’s demeanor. With how long Danny had been missing, she knew he would most likely be found dead, but there was something about him which told her he may actually have good information.

“Coffee would be nice, but I’m not sure they’ll wait long enough for it to finish.”

Uncertain at what that meant, she let him into her living room and went to get her sister. Both Maddie and Jack were awake and stood at the top of her stairs. She beckoned them down, and the three sat on the old leather couch across from the arm chair the officer had claimed.

“Maddie, Jack, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we found Danny. He’s alive.”

There was a moment of stunned disbelief before everyone yelled. Alicia couldn’t make heads or tails of what her sister or Jack said, but the man had scooped his wife up in an excited embrace. Once she was released, Maddie demanded to know where Danny was.

“One of our volunteers found him early this morning. We don’t know how he got there, but he was only a few yards away from where you said he was last seen,” the officer explained.

“How the heck is that possible?” Alicia demanded. She and several others had checked that area repeatedly.

“Ma’am, we honestly have no idea,” he replied honestly. “He’s been taken to the local hospital to check for injuries, but I’ve been told he’s in good health.”

It only took a few moments after that for Jack and Maddie to wake up their daughter and get ready before the four of them piled in the Fenton’s vehicle and headed to the hospital. When they arrived and the woman at the front desk told them where they needed to go, they found Danny happily sitting on an examination table with a juice box in hand speaking with an officer.

The boy waved to his parents once he noticed them. Seconds later, he was safely wrapped in his mother’s arms. She was crying in happiness. 

Allowing the family their much needed reunion, the officer stepped outside and spoke to Alicia. “We’re honestly at a loss for what happened to him,” he explained. “Danny says someone asked to play with him, but he couldn’t really explain who or what it might have been. He says the thing had red eyes and gave him food when he was got tired. He said his playmate wanted him to stay, but he wasn’t strong enough yet. He said his playmate let him go with the promise of them meeting again in the future.”

“That’s very strange.”

The officer looked her dead in the eye. “Ma’am, I’m sure you’re aware of this, but weird things happen in these woods. We’re lucky he turned up alive. In most of the cases I’ve heard like this, the child is never found. No trace of them what so ever. Or, if they are found, they’re dead for reasons we don’t understand.” With that, he left her to her thoughts and went back into the room to finish up his interview with Danny.

……

A couple days later, Maddie and Jack had packed up their kids and began their journey back to their home. While she was glad everything had turned out alright in the end, she had concerns about her nephew. 

Danny seemed off somehow. There didn’t seem to be a change in personality, but she’d catch him sometimes stare off into the woods with a blank expression. His eyes also seemed somewhat different, but she was never exactly able to pinpoint why. 

In the years that followed, she received word her family was doing fine. Danny seemed unaffected by the event and was growing up as a young boy should. Jasmine had begun taking an interest in psychology, most likely due to what she had witnessed when Danny disappeared. Maddie and Jack, however, had taken a personal interest in what happened to their boy. While they were already investigating what many would consider fringe sciences, they began looking into the tales of disappearances like their son’s.

She was still unsettled by the entire event. Her gut told her whatever happened to Danny was only the beginning of something larger and stranger. If he disappeared again, she wouldn’t be surprised.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twelve years later, the wheels of fate start to turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be aware this story is not currently beta’ed.

“I’m honestly surprised your parents allowed you on this trip, Danny,” his friend Sam mentioned as they and their other friend, Tucker, packed their bags onto the bus.

The now seventeen year old Danny shrugged as he focused on trying to make sure his bag wouldn’t be squished in the luggage compartment of the bus during the trip. He brought a foldable telescope with him in case he had a chance to stargaze, and he didn’t want it to get broken.

His school, Casper High, had some sort of deal with one of the local National Parks. The school was allowed to camp at the park at a reduced rate as long as the students helped the Forest Rangers with some minor tasks. Both parties considered it a win-win situation as the Park Service received some extra hands, and the school was able to pride itself on the survival and conservational experiences its students received. Technically, the trip was voluntary for seniors, but the teachers indirectly pressured the students to participate.

“To be honest, I’m more surprised they convinced Tucker to go,” Danny eventually replied after he was satisfied with the location of his bag.

“You’re telling me!” Tucker whined as he waited for his two friends while he fiddled with his PDA. “My mother actually threatened to stop making her meatloaf for me if I didn’t go! They said, “It would be good for me”. Can you believe that?”

“I think a little bit of hiking do you some good.” Sam poked him in the stomach for emphasis.

As Tucker shouted in protest, Danny and Sam exchanged a glance. Tucker did not like the outdoors, and he was very vocal about it. His world primary consisted of technology, and while it was amazing what he could do with his handheld and twenty minutes, his physical prowess was lacking. 

“But seriously, Danny,” Tucker injected after he finally fended off Sam, “how did you convince your parents to let you come?”

Danny shrugged as he headed towards the door of the bus. Shouts from the teachers made it clear they would be boarding soon. “It seems like the school board managed to somehow convince them. All I know is that they had a meeting with them to raise concerns and to tell them I wasn’t going to go, but they came back stating it was fine. It must have been one heck of a persuasive argument.”

“That’s because my mother was involved.” The boys glanced over to see Sam angrily kick a rock out of the way. Her parents were often a taboo topic. “I thought I told you she was on the school board. I don’t know the full details of it, but I know she was preparing counterarguments to objections.”

“I’m honestly surprised your parents are so gung ho about this trip. You’d think they’d consider camping beneath them.”

“It’s because of the prestige. They can brag that their daughter and their daughter’s school has ties to a government agency.”

While Danny raised an eyebrow, he admitted it seemed petty enough of a reason. Sam’s parents were very wealthy and liked to show off their wealth, much to their daughter’s dismay. They often argued with her regarding her appearance, music tastes, friends, after school activities, and other issues as they believed their daughter’s choices reflected poorly on them. However, they were usually fine with their daughter’s activism regarding conservation and animal rights as long as she didn’t go too far with it, such as the time she tried to stage a break out at the local zoo.

Their conversation ended as the boarding began. The three somehow managed to get the back of the bus, which allowed them to continue to talk without interruption. Most of the other students tended to avoid their group. They didn’t know why until one of the band members, Mikey, once asked Tucker how he put up with being so close to Danny. Confused, Tucker asked him to elaborate.

According to Mikey, a lot of the other students felt unnerved by Danny. As polite and quiet as he tended to be, there was something odd about him that no one was directly able to pinpoint. Mikey said he thought it could have been his eyes, citing how at times it almost seemed like Danny saw the world in a slightly different way than the rest of them. Tucker just laughed it off and explained that Danny had a traumatic event as a child so he often seemed unusually reserved. Mikey seemed to accept that answer, and afterwards, at least some of the students involved with the band were more open towards Danny.

The Fentons moved to Amity Park two years after Danny’s disappearance, so the majority of the student body was unaware of the event. If he was honest, Danny would never have told Sam and Tucker what happened, but his parents’ eccentricities forced the issue. 

When his parent’s found out about Sam’s activism the first time she and Tucker visited their house, they made her swear she would not take their son into the woods with her. When he was finally allowed to take them to his room after Sam promised she wouldn’t, he hesitantly explained why they were so intense. His friends were very understanding, though they were just as puzzled about the entire thing as he was. Tucker even offered to hack into the old case file if Danny ever decided to look into it.

Sam did mention that it did help explain why they sometimes caught him staring off into space. She figured he was probably traumatized by something he couldn’t quite remember. Danny mentioned his sister once told him something similar, but he honestly didn’t remember anything that happened.

What he never admitted to his friends was that he knew why he sometimes seemed distant. Ever since his disappearance, he sometimes saw figures out of the corner of his periphery. Usually, he thought it was another person, but when he tried to check, whatever it was had disappeared. More recently, however, the figures seemed to let him glimpse them for a second or two. He could never make out anything other than the vague shape as a person. Since no one else seemed to notice them, he figured it was some weird sort of paranoia due to a repressed memory. 

….

About a half hour after they left, Danny received a voicemail from his parents. He had forgotten he had put it on silent, but there was no way he could call them back while he was on the bus since Mr. Lancer was the chaperone for his bus, and that man was a stickler for the rules. Instead, he made a mental note to call them back as soon as he had permission as he clicked the play button.

His mother’s voice sounded absolutely frantic. “Daniel, you call me as soon as you get this! I don’t know what came over us, but we never should have let you go without some sort of protection. I should have never have let you go. If the teachers won’t let you call us, jest remember to never be the last or first in line, and never, under any circumstances, go anywhere alone. And, this is important Danny, if anyone you don’t know offers you food, don’t take it.” His dad could faintly be heard in the background talking about some sort of weaponry he made. 

“And here I thought only my mom could sound like that. What was that about?” Sam asked. Her raised eyebrow told him she wasn’t going to let it drop until he had an answer. 

“I think my parents finally realized I was going into the woods,” he replied as he put his phone away. 

“I thought you said they were fine with you going,” Tucker chimed in while he rummaged through his back for a snack.

Danny didn’t immediately answer. He glanced away for a moment before finally he decided to open up about something which had been bugging him. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but my parents almost seemed like they were in a daze after that school meeting. They were so adamant I was not going to be allowed to go on that trip, and then they just changed their minds and stopped voicing their concerns. It was so weird that I actually called Jazz.”

It was true. He had called his sister at collage because of how out of character it was. While Jazz understood his concern, she reassured him one of the teachers or other parents managed to ease their concerns, and/or they realized some of their worries were silly and unfounded. He tried to tell her there was something more to it as she couldn’t physically see how off they were, but she just told him he was being paranoid and to enjoy himself. 

Tucker whistled. “It must have been weird for you to do that.” Both Sam and Tucker knew full well how Jasmine “Jazz” Fenton tended to overanalyze almost everything. As a result, Danny often tried to avoid asking her questions regarding why a person would act in a certain way. The resulting explanation was often too lengthy to be interesting. 

“As weird as that is, do you really think anyone in Amity would do something like drug or hypnotize your parents?” Sam argued. 

“I… I don’t really know. Look, I never told you guys this,” Danny sighed as he steeled himself, “but, there has been a second incident prior to us moving. Our old house had a wooded area behind it. It wasn’t dense or anything, and you could see in it for like a half mile… but, according to my parents, and Jazz confirmed it, I went missing again for several hours in those woods. I don’t remember saying this, but they said I mentioned something about my playmate from the forest in Arkansas payed me a visit. There’s been an unspoken worry that this guy is following us for some reason.”

Neither of his friends said anything for a while until Sam spoke up. “That’s really messed up, but do you really think that’s the case? How would this person be able to find you? Do you even know what he or she looks like?”

He shook his head. “You know my parents are big names in fringe science. It’s possible he found us that way. I know that it’s really unlikely… It… It’s just… it was too weird, you know? With how my parents go on and on about other dimensions and being spirited away, them just suddenly changing their minds went against everything they believe.”

“Don’t worry, Danny. You’re with us and a bunch of other students. We’ll keep an eye on you.”

“And if something does happen, Sam can chase off the bad guy with those boots of hers. Ow!” Tucker glared at Sam as he rubbed his shin. “That was a compliment.”

She just snickered which caused the two to start bickering. The familiarity of it helped ease some of Danny’s worries. He knew he was just being paranoid, and that it was very unlikely anyone did something to his parents. It was just that he couldn’t shake off his uneasy feeling. 

….

Their camp ground was in the Cuyahoga Valley region which was on the outskirts of the Allegheny plateau. The hills in the area were rolling due to the plateau and ancient glacial activity, but they were nowhere near as large as the ones found closer to the mountains in the next state over. Like many forests in the plateau, it was surprisingly old and dense.

Danny was unsettled by it. The hardwood trees blocked out a large percentage of the sun which cast permanent shadows on the area. Not only was it unlikely he would be able to stargaze, he kept thinking he saw something peek out from behind the trees. Chalking it up to paranoia, he decided to focus on the interior of the bus until they reached their destination. He didn’t need to freak out this early in the trip.

Due to the amount of students, the school split them into groups of about thirty and split them around the park. His group was sent to a series of cabins near one of the ranger stations. There were five or six assigned to each cabin. Thankfully for Danny, Tucker was also assigned to the same cabin. 

After Mr. Lancer told them some general rules, they were told they had an hour to settle in before they would met up for lunch. The unpacking was fairly uneventful, though Danny was dismayed to learn some of the football players would be in his cabin. Most of them tended to leave him alone, but the one, Dash, liked to bully him. It was strange since he was the only person aside from Sam and Tucker who would come anywhere near him. Thankfully, other than a warning to keep his weirdness to himself, the football players decided to ignore him and Tucker. 

He unpacked fairly quickly, so he decided he had enough time to try to contact his parents. Stepping outside, he tried to make a phone call. Someone picked up on the other end, but the signal must have been poor as the call was extremely choppy. After several minutes of trying to figure out what she was saying, he told her he would ask the Rangers if they had a land line he’d be able to use before he ended the call. He frowned as he checked the bars on his phone. There signal was strong enough that the call shouldn’t have been that choppy, but it was a cheaper phone since he had a bad habit of breaking them, so that could have been the reason. 

They ate lunch at a mess hall in the camp complex. It was a fairly modest meal, but the beef and gravy was surprisingly good. Danny mused it was probably because his parents often experimented with cooking which often created strange results. He was also surprised that there was a vegetarian option available for Sam, but the school must have called ahead to let them know. 

When they were finishing up, Mr. Lancer announced that one of the Rangers had an announcement. Danny glanced over to see a stern man, possibly in his late thirties, move towards the front of the room. He was fit and weathered, but every once in a while, there was a haunted look in his eyes.

The ranger, Rusty, gave the group a rundown of the general rules. He then paused for a moment before he spoke again. “This is unprecedented, but we are going to need your help for a search for a missing person.” Murmurs of excitement ran through the students. “This is a serious matter, and I request you pay attention. We have our search and rescue people and volunteers out right now looking for a twenty-two year old male. He is Caucasian and was last seen in a red jacket and blue jeans. He goes by Aiden.”

“Because you are not properly trained,” Rusty continued, “I only ask that you walk along the nearby trails for a couple hours in groups of two or more. Each group will be given a walkie-talkie. If you see or hear anything strange, call it into us. Don’t go off the trails. We don’t need more people getting lost today.” He fell silent and seemed to argue with himself for a moment before adding, “If you hear what sounds like screaming, particularly a woman screaming, call it in immediately. Large cats sometimes make that kind of sounds, and we definitely have Bobcats around. Luckily, they tend to avoid people, but we do like to know when we have signs of them.”

Twenty minutes later, the teens separated into their groups. Each group was provided a map, compass, and walkie-talkie. Rusty took them to a large map posted outside the Ranger station and explained a little about the area. The trails he wanted them to take circled the surrounding area and were well marked. Before he let them go, he again warned them to report anything off, but did try to reassure them by letting them know other rangers would be regularly sweeping the area. 

“Well, isn’t this a reassuring start to our trip,” Tucker sarcastically mentioned as he tried to figure out the map.

“It can’t be helped,” Sam told him as she ripped the map out of his hands and corrected it before handing it back to him. “They must be desperate if they’re asking students to help.”

“Hey, I’m not used to replying on handheld maps.”

“You could try bringing it up on GPS,” Danny mentioned as they headed towards the one trail.

“That’s a great idea!” Tucker fiddled with his PDA for a moment before turning back to his friend. “Are you okay, dude? You sound a little off.”

“Oh, I guess this would hit a little too close to home,” Sam mentioned as she examined his expression.

Danny sighed as he glanced away from her. “Kind of. Even though I don’t remember it, I was in this exact same situation before. I hope they find the guy, at least for his family’s sake.”

The trio fell silent as they began their walk on one of the easy trails. They didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, though Tucker complained starting about halfway through the hike. Sam tried to distract them by identifying some of the local flora, but it only worked for so long. 

By the time they made it back to camp, it was almost dinner time. Danny was glad to be back around the group. Although he never mentioned anything to his friends, he felt as if he was being watched the entire time. The trees seemed oppressive at times, and he was honestly surprised he didn’t have a panic attack while they were on the trail.

After dinner, he asked Rusty if there was a phone he would be able to use. Rusty told him that he would have to wait until the morning because they needed the line for the search. Danny understood and thanked the man.

Before he had a chance to head back to his cabin, Rusty called out to him, “While you’re here, make sure you never go off on your own.”

“I know. I mean, my parents drilled that into me for years,” Danny admitted with a shrug.

Rusty examined him closely before stepping closer and whispering, “You’ve witnessed something strange in the past. I can tell by the look in your eyes and how tense you are. In any heavily wooded area, the more open you are to the unusual, the more likely it might show up again.” He walked off without another word. Unnerved, Danny returned to his cabin and waited for his friend.

Tucker still wanted to complain about the amount of walking they did when he returned to the room, which prompted a discussion regarding how in the world Sam was able to enjoy things like that. Danny was about to bring up what the ranger told him when the football players burst into the room. Normally, Danny would just ignore them, but this time, he was intrigued by their excited whispers. 

“Hey dweebs,” Dash addressed them, much to Danny and Tucker’s surprise, “did you hear what happened?” An evil grin appeared on his face when they told him they didn’t. “Kwan overheard the rangers talking earlier. You know that guy they were looking for?”

“Yeah,” Danny answered, “Did they find him?”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t alive.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me. They’re saying he’s dead.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
End of chapter notes (they're here so they don't somehow end up in a different chapter)  
The Cuyahoga (Ky-ah-HOE-ga) Valley is a real place. I chose it for some very specific reasons. 1) The forests in that area are extremely large 2) I’m fairly familiar with the landscape and weather as I grew up in another part of the Allegheny plateau 3) The parks in that area are a bit unusual as you have a mix of privately owned and government owned areas which I’m using to my design as there’s more leeway with what they can and can’t build in those areas 4) some old towns have been “swallowed” by the national park including one famous “helltown” 

The Allegheny (Al-ah-gain-ee) plateau is one part of the Appalachian Mountains, which are said to be the oldest mountains in the world. You don’t really have the high peaks or rock terrain associated with other ranges since they’re so worn, but there are a lot of hills, valleys, creeks, and streams. There are also a lot of coal mines since it’s a coal rich area. What’s also very strange about the plateau is that you can be in a town or suburbs, but within 15-20 minutes, you can be on the outskirts of a deep forest. There are also some swamps and marshy areas within the plateau as well. 

Also, a lot of the names for natural landmarks in the Allegheny plateau originate from the tribes who originally settled there. There are even some burial mounds in the Cuyahoga area.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad news and an unexpected visitor

“You heard me. They’re saying he’s dead,” Dash clarified as he watched Danny for his reaction. “And from what Kwan said, his body was really messed up.”

Danny rolled his eyes as Tucker stuttered in fear. Dash was known for trying to scare his ‘victims,’ so most likely he was just trying to get a rise out of them. “Yeah, yeah, and what’s your proof?” he asked as he sat down on his bed. 

That caused the jock to back track. “Well… Kwan said…”

“Dash, I get we’re in the middle of the woods, and you’re in a prime position to tell ghost stories, but unless you have proof, this is not something you should joke about,” Danny scolded which drew a few surprised looks. 

“What? It goes against your morals?” 

The teen’s sneer was enough to cause uncharacteristic anger to flood through him. After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Danny glowered at him. “I’m only going to explain this once,” he warned as he tried to sound deadly serious, “I’ve seen the aftermath of what happens in a family who has someone go missing, especially when there’s no explanation as to what happened. It’s not pretty, and when it comes to people who get out here all sorts of terrible things can happen, so you shouldn’t be spreading rumors that could reach the family.”

“Wait, hold on. Fenton, you had someone in your family go missing?” one of the other jocks, Zach, asked. Danny was actually surprised he caught on to that. “Did they at least find them?”

“Luckily, they did, but that’s the reason my parents were so vocal against me going, and while I think they’re way too extreme about it, I, at least, understand their concerns.”

“But, no offense, your parents go on and on about weird creatures, ghosts, and other weird crap.”

“Well, yeah, that’s what happens when you try to rationalize what happened when nothing else makes sense. They were already involved in fringe metaphysics and stuff before that happened, so it was a logical jump for them to consider time slips and other dimensions with how bizarre everything was.”

A silence fell between them as they let Danny’s words sink in. It seemed that Zach wanted to say something else, but decided against it. Dash did eventually mumble something about how he’d drop it for now. That by itself was enough validation for Danny. 

“Hey,” Tucker hesitantly spoke up after several minutes as all of them began to lay down, “do you think that kind of thing is real? I mean like falling into other dimensions and stuff.”

Danny didn’t answer him immediately. “To be honest with you, I really don’t know. I know there are a lot of legends regarding things like this, and my parents’ research at least suggests the concept of other dimensions is possible. I know the concept of wormholes are mathematically supported, and that some astronomers think wormholes could possibly bridge dimensions, but we don’t have the technology to get close to one or survive it. But random rips appearing in the woods? It sounds more like sci-fi horror movie stuff, but sometimes, as stupid as it sounds, that’s the only thing that makes sense.”

…..

“Maybe Kwan was right,” Tucker mused when he and Danny exited their cabin the next morning.

There were police officers present, and an ambulance with closed doors was on the far side of the camp. Danny briefly caught sight of an officer speaking to the driver of the ambulance until he noticed the markings on the ambulance were off. After a moment, he realized it belonged to the local Coroner. If that was the case, then there was a body retrieved. 

“Well, I don’t know if it was that missing camper, but something definitely happened to someone,” Danny agreed as they made their way to the mess hall for breakfast. 

The worst was confirmed as breakfast was finished. Rusty once again stood in front of them. His face was somehow bleaker than the previous day as he confirmed that the missing camper had been found deceased. After the murmurs of the teenagers quieted, he continued, “I know you’re supposed to be out here for fun, but unfortunately, this circumstance happened. We are going to do our best, after the police finish their investigation, to make sure you enjoy yourself here. However, the police have requested to interview each of you to see if anyone you may have seen or heard anything while you were out yesterday. They have also requested that no one go off by themselves while they were under investigation. Please go in groups of at least two. We rangers will also try to be with you when you’re outside of camp, but we may be stretched a little thin during the investigation.”

“I’m surprised they aren’t sending us home,” Tucker mentioned once Rusty was finished speaking and the roar of the students overtook the mess hall. 

“I don’t think they can. I mean, the police need to talk to us, and since it’s an open investigation, they won’t want anyone to leave the area until they’ve determined there’s nothing else they can do here,” Sam pointed out as she checked her phone. 

“Hey, are you able to get any service?” Danny asked her. “I couldn’t reach my parents yesterday.”

“It’s weird. Yesterday, I could, but I’m having trouble getting service this morning.”

“Now that you mention it, I noticed that too,” Tucker added as he brought out his PDA. “And that’s the thing, with how I modified this, that shouldn’t be the case. I wonder if there’s a disrupter somewhere nearby.”

“You mean a cell phone disrupter?” 

He nodded as he leaned towards them. His voice lowered as he glanced around the room. “I’m not sure if anyone else noticed it. I think most of our classmates think it’s just because we’re in the woods, but that’s not really how it works anymore. This is something that should be brought up to the police.”

“I think you’re right,” Danny agreed as he checked his phone again. “And with everything happening, I think I won’t be able to use the ranger’s phone today either.”

….

About an hour after breakfast finished, the police began their interviews of the students. While Danny and his friends waited for their turn, they hung out near the front of the mess hall. They didn’t say much, but instead, they decided to watch the area. 

A while later, a long black limousine approached from the only road fit for normal vehicles and came into the camp. A few minutes after it parked, a well-dressed man with silver hair exited. As one of the officers approached the man, Danny finally realized why he recognized him.

“Oh, that’s Vlad. I wonder why he’s here,” he mused as he watched. After a moment, he noticed his friends were gaping at him. “What’s wrong?”

“You know the Vladimir Masters?” Tucker nearly choked. “He’s one of the most influential billionaires in the world!”

“He is? I knew he had money, since he helps fund some of my parents’ experiments, but I didn’t realize it was that much. Anyways, apparently he and my parents went to college together. With how often he visited when we were younger, Jazz and I kind of view him as an uncle.”

“That’s actually pretty impressive. My parents know him due to some of the business galas they’ve attended,” Sam mentioned as a devious smirk crossed her face. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell them that Vlad is your parents’ benefactor. Mother dearest will have a conniption.”

Their conversation turned to what Danny knew of the man, and he answered the best he could. As he thought about it, he realized he didn’t know a lot of personal details about the man. Vlad tended to focus on the people around him and avoid talking about himself. He just figured Vlad was a very private person.

When Vlad finished speaking with the officer, he approached the trio. “Oh, Daniel! What a surprise! I never expected to run into you in a place like this with how protective Maddie is.” His tone was pleasant, but his exaggerated gestures almost made it seem like he was acting. 

“We’re here on a school trip. I guess the PTA and teachers managed to convince her and Dad we’d be protected. But why are you here? No offense, but seeing you in the middle of the woods in a suit is weird,” Danny replied nonchalantly. He was used to Vlad’s over the top behavior.

“It’s unfortunate, really,” he explained as he glanced over his shoulder towards the officers. “The gentleman who they found dead works for one of my companies. I came out to see if the police officers required any assistance with resources, funds or otherwise, and offer my services.” As he turned back to face Danny, his eyes widened as he seemingly noticed Sam and Tucker for the first time. “Ah, you must be Daniel’s friends. Where are my manners? I’m Vladimir Masters, but you may call me Vlad.” He extended his hand towards them.

Tucker eagerly took his hand, but Sam was a little more hesitant. “I’m surprised that a big name like yourself personally looks in on their workers,” she told him.

A pleasant hum escaped the man. “I do try to keep tabs on those I employ. This particular incident, however, is extremely tragic and unusual, so I felt it was prudent to personally show my support for those investigating.”

“Yeah? I’ve also heard that killers like to inject themselves into investigations.”

“Sam!?” 

“It’s quite alright, Daniel,” Vlad told him as he flashed a pleasant smile. “She does bring up a valid point, and it’s likely I will be asked a few more questions at a later time as a result. However, I can assure you that I was in my office a few states away when Mr. Aiden Jones was reported missing. Hmm, I also think I may have a word with your teacher. With a tragic event like this, it’s unwise to have you remain here when it is unclear if it is safe or not. Now, if you excuse me.”

As Vlad began to turn, Danny took a step closer as a thought crossed his mind. “Oh, Vlad, I hate to ask, but would you happen to have a phone I can use to call my parents? Mom left me a frantic message, but my phone’s not working, and I can’t use the Rangers’ phone right now…”

The man appraised him for a moment. “I don’t have a phone on me right now, but I do have one in my car. While I don’t think your teacher or the police would find it appropriate to let you in my car at the moment, I can at least give them a call for you.”

“Thank you!”

Vlad flashed him a large grin. “Anything for you, dear boy. But, I really must be off. Ta!” With that, he walked away, approached one of the nearby rangers, and struck up a conversation.

“So that’s Vlad Masters,” Tucker mentioned once he was certain the man was out of earshot. “I can’t figure out if I like him or not.”

“I don’t. It felt like everything he said and did was an act,” Sam told them as she crossed her arms. Her eyes never left the billionaire.

Danny just shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. “He’s always been like that. I don’t really know if it’s because being involved in business, or because he lives alone.”

“He lives alone? No family or anything?”

“Nope,” he replied as he popped the ‘p’. “He’s never had anyone as long as I’ve known him. Both Dad and Mom like to ask him about whether or not he’s dating anyone whenever he’s stopped by, but he’s always answered that he’s too busy. I think Mom’s tried to hook him up with a few dates, but it never panned out.”

A frown crossed Tucker’s features as he glanced at the man. “You’d think he’d have people throwing themselves at him because of his wealth.”

“That might be why he isn’t seeing anyone. Anyways, any thoughts on what happened?”

“Not really,” Sam replied as she glanced towards some of the rangers and police. “If they thought it was just an accident, you’d think they’d come right out and tell us. I’m going to assume they aren’t sure, so they need to try to rule out a few things before they tell us anything.”

“Looks like we’ll have a chance to ask one of the officers. I guess it’s our turn to be interviewed,” Danny mentioned as one of the officers caught their attention and beckoned them.

A few minutes later, the officer took them into the mess hall. It was fairly routine. The officer, Malik, assured them they weren’t in any trouble or suspects. He just wanted to know if they had seen or heard anything while they were out on the trails the previous day. They explained that everything seemed normal, and they couldn’t recall seeing anything out of the norm. Tucker did mention that the three of them were having trouble with their cell phones. 

Officer Malik made a strange expression at the new information, but did say anything regarding it. He just thanked them for their time, and sent them on their way. 

Before he left the room, Danny spoke up, “Sir, do you know what happened? Should we be worried?”

He was silent for a few moments before replying. “We’re pretty sure he just had a bad accident, but, since we don’t have an official answer yet, we do have to investigate and take statements. Sorry this had to happen while you kids are on a trip.”

Danny thanked him and hurried out the door with his friends. “So, what do you think?” he asked as he checked behind him to make sure no one was paying attention to them as they walked behind one of the cabins. 

“That’s pretty cut and dry, isn’t it?” Tucker asked as he scratched his head. “Accidents do happen.”

“Yeah, but the officer didn’t reassure us it was safe. Danny, you noticed it too?” When he nodded, Sam continued, “I think they’re trying to downplay what might have happened which worries me. And since our cell phones still aren’t working properly, it makes me more anxious. I guess Vlad was right. We shouldn’t be here right now.”

“Sam! Don’t say things like that!” The scared whine in Tucker’s voice almost made Danny laugh. “You’ll see, Dash and his jerk friends will use it to tell ghost stories tonight. I not going to be happy if I lose sleep.”

“And here I thought you liked scary stories.”

“Not when we’re smack dab in the middle of the beginning of a real life horror movie!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students want to go home, but the teachers want to keep up appearances. Rumors and speculations all around.

Later that night, it was officially announced at dinner that the camper’s death was the result of an unfortunate accident. However, what shocked all the students was the decision to finish out the remaining time at the camp. According to Mr. Lancer, he had contacted the other teachers at the different sites, and that was the mutual decision.

Tucker had surprisingly spoken up and demanded how their teacher managed to get through since the cell phone service issue remained unresolved. After their meeting with the police officer, he had checked with other students, who all said the same thing. Their service was poor, and they hadn’t been able to contact anyone. For the technophile, it was extremely frustrating, and he had put a lot of effort in attempting to solve the problem on his own device. He told Danny and Sam that it almost seemed like there was a weird electrical phenomenon causing the problem.

Lancer stumbled for a moment, but he eventually said the Park Rangers had let him use their landline.  
He then changed the topic and began explaining what the activities for the next morning would be.

“Alright, now I’m really sure something’s fishy,” Tucker whispered to his friends. “Wanna bet he was never able to contact the other teachers?”

“I’ll pass, because I think you’re right,” Danny told him as he stole a glance at some of the nearby Rangers. They had been closely watching the students since the beginning of dinner. “I don’t think the Rangers agree with that decision.”

“Yeah, and did you notice? They’ve been stone faced during this whole thing.” Sam leaned forward as she continued. “I really think something more serious happened to that poor man.”

Danny nodded. “I don’t have the slightest idea what might have happened. You’d think they come right out and say if it was an animal attack. But, that’s fairly uncommon in our state. I mean, the most dangerous animal here is a black bear, but they aren’t very common.”

“It could have been a mountain lion attack. While they supposedly haven’t been in this state for decades, there are still regular reports of them. That’s something that might be kept quiet. I mean, that was an issue in Pennsylvania with their coyotes and the Game Commission.”

“That would make sense, but you’d think they’d still say something like it was an animal attack and chalk it up to him doing something stupid to upset a bear if that was the case,” Tucker mentioned as he fiddled with his PDA. “I still can’t get a good signal.”

“I guess we need to just remain on guard,” Danny mused as the other students began to stand. His friends agreed with him as stood and went to grab one of the paper schedules which held the next day’s events.

…

After Danny and Tucker headed back to their cabin after then had finished freshening up for the night at the communal showers, they were met with the jocks excitedly swapping information. Dash’s grin was almost cat-like as he caught sight of the pair. “So, I guess you dweebs didn’t hear about what actually happened to that camper.”

“Other than what we were told, no,” Danny told him as he went to grab something out of his bag. “And don’t you have anything better to do than spread nasty rumors about the dead?”

Dash’s grin immediately grew larger as he continued, “It’s not a rumor. One of the band geeks was up for an early piss and saw them bring the body into camp. That guy was in pieces.”

“Wha… what!? What did you say?” Tucker stammered as he dropped his PDA.

“Are you absolutely certain that’s what he saw?” Danny demanded as he stepped in between Tucker and Dash. “The camper could have been really messed up, but if he was covered in blood, dirt, and whatever else he encountered, maybe it looked worse than it really was.”

“As much as it annoys me to admit, Fenton makes a good point,” Dash’s other friend, Lucas, mentioned as he sat on his bed. “Without seeing it for ourselves, we don’t know how bad it was, and the kid was pretty scared when he repeated it. So, let me ask you this Fenton, what do you think happened?”

“I’m surprised you care about whatever I think. But,” Danny paused for a moment, “all I know for certain is that something bad happened, and the police and rangers aren’t happy about it. But, I’m not a cop, and I’m clearly not trained in stuff like this, so my hunches are probably wrong.”

“That’s not much of an answer.”

“Unlike some people, I’m not going to jump to conclusions before I know more.” Satisfied with the stunned looks of the jocks, Danny turned to finish preparing for bed. After a moment, he realized Tucker was staring at him. “What?”

“So, where’s this Danny Fenton been all these years?” his friend whispered at him.

Danny raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve never stood up your… you know… bullies before. What changed?”

“Nothing changed, not really,” Danny replied as he climbed into bed. “It’s just I can’t tolerate people spreading rumors like this. It brings bad luck, or at least I think so, and,” he paused for a moment before lowering his voice, “you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”

“Did your parents drill that into you or something?”

“Not my parents, but I can’t remember who did.”

……

The next day, the students were kept close to camp. Most of the day was spent learning basic camping skills. Although there were plenty of grumbles from his classmates, Danny found it pretty interesting as his parents wanted to keep him as far away from the woods as possible. He spent most of the morning in a boyish wonder as was instructed on setting up tents, campfires, and basic traps. 

Sam spent a good portion of the morning teasing him, but he largely ignored her. Like a lot of boys, he had an interest in camping when he was younger, so this was a chance to experience it, or at least a small portion of it. However, by the time lunch hit, his enthusiasm had been replaced by uneasiness. 

In the shadows cast by the trees around the camp, he felt as if someone was watching him. It was possible it was just an animal, but as the hours passed and the feeling continued, he determined that couldn’t be the cause. Most animals didn’t spend that long watching people, unless they were hunting, but most predators wouldn’t dream of getting so close to so many people. Both Sam and Tucker seemed apprehensive as well. 

“Hey, did either of you heard those weird bird calls earlier?” Sam asked while they were eating dinner.

“I don’t know how you had time to listen to birds with how much manual labor we did earlier. I’m exhausted,” Tucker whined in between bites of his food. 

“We barely did anything too strenuous. You really need to get out more.” The amused smirk on Sam’s face was quickly replaced by a frown. “But, in all seriousness, something sounded wrong. I’m pretty familiar with the birds around here, but I’ve never heard something like that before.”

“Is it possible it was an exotic bird?” Danny questioned. “I mean, it is possible one escaped or someone let one go.”

Sam considered his words for a moment. “While it’s possible, I don’t think that’s the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s hard to explain.” She brought her hand to her chin as she tried to put her thoughts to words. “The sound didn’t sound natural. It was almost mechanical.”

“A mechanical bird? Come on, Sam! Even for you, that’s pretty out there. Am I right, dude?” Tucker playfully nudged Danny, only to realize he seemed deep in thought. “Hey, what’s wrong? Earth to Danny.”

“Gah!” The sudden motion of Tucker waving his hand in front of his face startled him. “Sorry about that. It’s just that… I… I think I know what she means”

“Huh?”

“I don’t remember much about what happened when I went missing, but before things go hazy, I definitely remember a strange bird call. After doing some research, my parents said that calls like that are sometimes heard before unusual missing persons cases.”

“Dude! Don’t say stuff like that! I’m already freaked out enough as it is by this whole mess. Ouch! Did you really have to kick me?”

“Keep your voice down,” Sam warned him as she motioned to the side with a head nod. Danny followed the motion and noticed some of the Rangers seemed to be watching them. “I really don’t want them to pay attention to us. They’re watching us, all of us, like we’re prisoners or something. Anyways, Danny do you know anything more about that weird call?”

“My parents said it might be a type of lure, but I have no idea if that’s true or not. But, I think it was to catch my attention than anything else.” Danny shook his head. “Sam, we wouldn’t be doing this. Whatever that call was, it could have just been some weird bird.”

“Don’t you want to know?”

“Maybe? I don’t know. Look, I’ve been uneasy since we first arrived in this forest. I already told Tucker this, but talking about weird stuff like this brings bad luck. Can we put it on hold until we get out of here?”

“But Danny!” Her argument was cut short as he glared at her. She straightened up as her eyes narrowed. “As weird as everything is, I think the bigger mystery is what exactly happened to you when you went missing when you were a kid.”

“Look, I don’t know what happened,” Danny snapped. What was her problem?

“Clearly something did. What’s every going on here might be digging up some of those memories. Maybe you have a memory that could help, but you’re getting so defensive.”

“Of course I am! Would you like it if someone kept trying to make you remember something that’s probably better left forgotten?”

“Alright, alright. Chill already.”

His only response was to huff and turn away. Her stubbornness was something he both admired and occasionally hated. Whether it was petitioning her teachers to get a menu changed, rallying a protest, or badgering her friends for information, she often wouldn’t stop until she got her way. It was a big reason why he didn’t think they’d ever be able to get together. 

They had discussed it the previous year, after Tucker outed their mutual attraction. Neither of them thought it would work out. Sam was too headstrong, and Danny was too reserved for it to be a functioning relationship. There was always a spark of hope, but it was situations like this that reminded him that they hadn’t changed. For the sake of their friendship, it wasn’t something they could safely consider. 

Maybe when they got a little older, a little more mature, they would be able to act on their feelings, but that would have to wait. For now, he was just going to sit in an annoyed silence as he finished his… what exact was this food supposed to be anyways?

…..

Sam actually apologized to him the next day. However, he was still too irritated to speak to her, but by the time lunch rolled around, he had forgiven her. 

The morning had been spent working on more wilderness survival skills, but the Rangers surprised them by announcing that they would be leading them on a hike on the trail that surrounded the camp. It was only supposed to last a couple hours at most, but three armed Rangers would be walking with them. 

Annoyed and uneasy murmurs circled through the students as they formed groups of three and four. Those groups were then lined up; one Ranger moved to the front, one went to the back, and the other moved to the center of the line. Before they began to move, the Rangers warned the entire group that, under no circumstance, was anyone to go off on their own. 

Although Sam and Tucker wanted to stay away from Lancer and the jocks who were near the front of the line, Danny would not allow them to be in the very back. After everything else that happened, he would not allow himself to be in the back on the line. The warning to stay away from the very back or front still rang in his ears. Unfortunately, that didn’t last very long.

As they began their trek, several of the groups fell to the back of the line. It forced Danny and his friends to have somewhat of a distance between the few band and more nerdy students who were following close to the first Ranger and Mr. Lancer, and the popular kids and jocks who were near the back. The Ranger who was supposed to be in the middle had hung back to help keep an eye on the larger portion of students. 

“I don’t like this,” Danny mentioned as Sam had them stop for a moment as she made a quick sketch of a plant off the path. “Is it just me, or is it really quiet?” He had noticed it for a while. Usually a person should be able to hear bugs, birds, leaves rustling, something, but he hadn’t noticed any noise for a while.

“These are older forests, Danny,” Sam explained as she finished her sketch. “Noises often get muffled since plants can absorb sound to some extent.”

“It doesn’t mean it’s not creepy.”

“Actually, Sam, I agree with him,” Tucker mentioned as he looked over his shoulder. “I feel like we’re being watched.”

Sam tucked her sketch book in her bag before pointing to something behind them. “I think you’re right on that, but I don’t think it’s anything out of the ordinary.” 

Danny and Tucker turned to see Dash and his friends, as well as some of the popular girls approach them from down the trail. Apparently, they had been spotted as Dash wore an evil grin as he said something to Kwan as he gestured towards them. A round of laughter followed.

“Great, just our luck. Do you think we’d be able to outrun them?” Danny asked as he warily eyed the approaching group.

“Are you nuts, dude? We can’t even outrun Sam.”

“Thanks for that lovely vote of confidence, Tucker.”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

The coyotes and the Game Commission was an actual thing that happened. Basically, there weren’t supposed to be any coyotes in Pennsylvania, but there were farmers saying their animals were being attacked by something. One of the farmers, who lived nearby where I grew up, got permission to take a shot at creatures and ended up killing a coyote with a Game Commission tag in its ear. Twenty years later, the Game Commission has finally admitted coyotes are back in Pennsylvania, and that they can be hunted. Coyotes can attack people. While there aren’t many documented attacks, they have happened, and Pennsylvanians aren’t very happy about them popping up in towns and parks.

Mountains Lions, also known as Nittany Lions, Pumas and Cougars, are supposedly extinct in the states east of the Mississippi River (ignore Florida – it’s an exception). However, that’s another thing under debate. There have been many sightings of them throughout the years in the east, especially in the Appalachian (app-ah-lay-shin) Mountains. There is actually a picture of one found in Ohio near its border with Kentucky that was taken in 2014. I know there are recent reports (2018) in Pennsylvania and New York as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you search out the paranormal. Other times, it finds you.
> 
> Warnings for the chapter: mentions of blood and death

“Yo, Fenturd, funny seeing you here.”

“Last time I checked, our entire class is supposed to be on this trail. I don’t know why you’re so surprised,” Danny quipped before he could stop himself. 

Dash grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “What was that?”

“Could you deal with your beef with this loser later? I’m all sweaty and getting covered in dirt. My designer clothes will get ruined at this point,” the one girl, Paulina whined. The other girls in the group, her satellites, quickly tried to comfort her.

Danny caught sight of the scowl on Sam’s face as she took a step forward. His friend held distain for the popular girls on the best of days, but it was situations like this which really upset her. They didn’t care about anyone outside of their group, and often stood by and laughed as the jocks bullied others. 

Paulina, who was the unspoken queen of their grade, was often outspoken about girls who she thought was beneath her, but she had also begun her own form of bullying in their sophomore year. She used her beauty to make guys fall for her and give her items. Once she was finished using them, she often publically embarrassed them or had Dash and his cronies throw a few punches. She had tried to go after Danny once, but after encountering his parents and their eccentricities once, she wanted nothing more to do with him. 

“Can’t I at least get one punch in?” Dash requested as he sized up Danny. “I mean, this is my last year to wail on him.”

“You can’t argue with that,” Zack added as he crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby tree. “Why deny a man a simple pleasure?”

“Fine, but hurry it up,” Paulina finally agreed as she and her friends moved to the side. 

“You hear her. Grab him,” Dash instructed has he pushed Danny backwards. He barely had time to catch himself before his arms were grabbed by two of the jocks.

Before he had a chance to throw his punch, Kwan grabbed his shoulder. “Hey, is this really the best place to do this? That one Ranger wasn’t that far behind us.”

“So?”

“Your buddy has a point,” Sam spat as Tucker tried to hold her back. It was clear she was itching to hit someone in the shin with her combat boot. “If a Ranger catches you assaulting someone, not only could you lose your spot on the football team, you could get jail time.”

Before Dash could make his decision, a scream rang out through the area. Everyone glanced around, but it didn’t seem as if anyone found anything unusual. “Didn’t that sound like Mikey?” Tucker asked after a moment.

“Drop him. That will definitely draw attention we don’t want,” Dash told his friends. “Mikey was up ahead of us, wasn’t he?”

“I think so. Why?” Kwan questioned.

“We should go check on our other punching bag. Make sure he’s not too hurt. Besides, maybe we’ll learn something we can use to scare him with later. Come on.” He beckoned them forward as he began following the trail again. The girls quickly followed him. The jocks holding Danny shared a look before letting him go.

“Hey, are you alright?” 

Danny looked up to see Kwan watching him. “Yeah. I know you were trying to help out there. Thanks.” 

The football player nodded before he ran after his friends. Although Danny didn’t exactly trust Kwan, he knew that he was a much kinder person than most of Dash’s friends. Kwan really didn’t want to be involved with the bullying, but was forced to go along with it for reasons Danny didn’t quite understand. 

“Do you think we should follow them?” Danny turned to see his friend’s responses.

“Absolutely not!” Tucker shouted before Sam could respond. “Dude, didn’t you notice that Dash is in one of his moods?”

“You’re such a coward, Tucker.” Sam grabbed his arm and began pulling him along the path. “He could need our help.”

“Or we could get beaten to a pulp too.”

“I’m with Sam on this one.” When Tucker sent him a look a betrayal, Danny amended, “I mean, we don’t have to get close if nothing is wrong, but if they need help, we can go get a Ranger. Didn’t Kwan mention there should be one not too far away?”

“Fine, but don’t expect me to get killed along with you.”

…..

After a few minutes of walking, Danny and his friends first caught sight of Dash and his friends. They seemed to just be staring at something in the woods. The girls were nowhere nearby. Mikey was sitting on the ground at their feet and was crying inconsolably.

“What… what should we do?” Tucker whispered as they hid behind a nearby tree and monitored the situation.

The hair on the back of Danny’s neck felt as if it was standing on end. As soon as they got to this area, something felt extremely wrong. “Although this goes against my desire for self-preservation, something’s not right.”

“You noticed it too?” Sam asked as she stepped out from around the tree and approached the group. “Hey! What’s wrong?” Danny and Tucker shared a look before they followed her.

Mikey noticed them first. His glasses were somewhat foggy because of his tears. “Lester…” he choked out.

“What about Lester? Mikey, talk to us.” Danny kneeled down so his distraught classmate wouldn’t have to look up at him. 

“He… he… we lost sight of him for just a moment,” Mikey whispered as he grabbed Danny by the arms. His wide eyes almost made him look insane. “He didn’t answer when we called him, and we didn’t see any signs of him. After… after searching and not seeing him… Jimmy and Clark went off to tell Mr. Lancer. I stayed put just in case… Then… then something fell over there… and… and…” The sob that escaped the boy was somewhere in between a scream and absolute despair. 

“What are you talking about? What happened?”

“Danny… I think you need to see something,” Sam whispered as she shook his shoulder.

After gently prying Mikey’s hands off of him, he stood up and looked at his friends. Both were incredibly pale, which was quite the feat for Tucker due to his naturally dark skin. Sam glanced at him before she pointed at something off the trail. At first, he had no idea what he was supposed to see, but after a moment, a soft dripping sound caught his attention. As he focused on that, he felt his blood run cold.

The dripping was coming from blood falling from a figure in a tree that was about thirty yards off. After a moment, he realized the figure was Lester. It almost looked as if someone had thrown him onto the branches, but with how limp his figure was and the strange pallor of his skin, Danny was convinced he was dead.

The sound of retching caught his attention. He turned to see Tucker wiping his mouth as he weakly straightened his posture. “That’s… that’s so messed up.”

“We… we need to get help,” Danny stammered as he glanced at the jocks. They all seemed to be in a trance. He snapped his fingers in front of Kwan’s face. “Hey, hey! Come on! Snap out of it.” The jock shook his head for a moment and glanced around before stumbling backwards into Dash. That seemed to break the rest of them out of their trance. 

After a moment of confusion, Dash spotted Danny and once again grabbed him by the shirt. “Alright, Fenturd, you better have a good explanation of what happened!”

“Get off of me!” he snapped as he wrestled out of Dash’s grip. “I don’t know what happened either. You got here first, remember? I do know we need to alert the Rangers.”

“Dash, what happened to the girls?” Lucas asked as he glanced around before he glared at Danny and his friends. “If you losers did anything to them…!”

“We haven’t seen them since we got here,” Sam replied as tried to help Mikey stand. He wasn’t complying and had opted to stare at the ground. “Tucker, what are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re taking pictures.”

“I am,” he shakily told her as he tapped his phone. “I… I still can’t get a signal. This way… we have a record of where we are… and, what the?!” As he spoke, another scream broke the silence of the forest.

“That sounded like Star!” Kwan yelled as he took off to investigate. 

“Hey, wait up!” The rest of the football players quickly ran after him leaving Danny, Sam, and Tucker alone with Mikey, who still seemed dazed. 

“I vote we try to get back to camp.” Tucker had put his phone away and was glancing around nervously.

Danny nodded as he and Sam picked up Mikey. His frame was small and lanky, so he thankfully didn’t weigh too much. Although he wasn’t exactly responding to them, they were able to get him to walk by tugging on his wrist. 

The group headed down the path as quickly as possible, but it wasn’t fast enough for Danny’s liking. The uneasy feeling he had when they first reached the area where they found Lester hadn’t left. It felt like they were being watched and followed, and it made him want to run. As uncool as it was, he wanted to run away as fast as possible, but he couldn’t leave his friends alone with whatever was lurking out there. He also couldn’t just leave Mikey.

A glance at the shocked boy told Danny that he was having a hard time processing exactly what happened to his friend. Although Danny really couldn’t say that he and Mikey were friends, he knew the boy enough to know that he and Lester were almost like brothers. It was understandable he couldn’t function after witnessing that, but he really did wish the boy would move faster. They needed to get to a safer location, preferably sooner than later. 

“Are we going to talk about it?” Sam hesitantly asked as they moved.

“Nah uh. No way. We’re still out in the woods with something without any adults around. You saw what happened!” Tucker sounded frantic as he looked around the area. 

“It can wait until we get back to camp,” Danny agreed as he kept his eyes on the trail. A strange noise caught his attention, and after a moment, he stopped to listen.

“Dude, what are you doing? You can’t stop now.”

Danny shushed him as he listened. A strange sound, almost like a bird call but almost metallic, was coming from somewhere behind them. He turned to see if he could catch sight of whatever the source was, but he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. After a few moments, the bird call was joined by the sound of rustling wings, but that also sounded almost metallic as there was a strange buzz to it. 

“It’s back!” Mikey suddenly shouted, causing the rest of them to jump. He then wrestled out of Sam and Danny’s grips before he took off down the trail. 

“Mikey! Come back! What’s back?” Before Danny had a chance to go after him, Sam grabbed his arm and pointed to something in the trees.

A silvery flash caught his attention. As he watched it, he realized it looked like a skeletal bird made from some sort of metal. It finally came to a stop on a tree branch a few yards down the trail from them. Its eyes were an eerie red. After it appraised them, it let out a horrifying screech. 

“I see you found the target!” an excited voice rang out from the woods. 

Danny and his friends formed a tight circle with their backs on the inside as they scanned the area. No one seemed to be nearby. Other than the sound of the strange bird and their breathing, there were no other sounds. After a moment, a figure emerged from shadows of the forest. 

The figure was the size of a young child and was carrying something over its shoulders. As it came closer, they could tell that it looked like a young boy, expect his skin was abnormally white, seemed to have green hair, and it almost seemed like he was glowing. 

“Is that Mikey?” Tucker whispered as he pointed to what the strange glowing figure had over its shoulder. 

“Get away from him!” Danny shouted, uncertain if it was even able to understand him. 

“And what are you going to do about it?” The boy laughed as he watched them. “I was told I could take a playmate if I helped Plasmius get his target, so I’m not giving him back!”

“What should we do?” Tucker whispered as he took a few steps backwards. “I don’t know what that thing is, but I don’t think that’s a person.”

“I think you’re right, but we need to help Mikey,” Danny told him. “But I have no idea how to safely do that.” Before he had a chance to make a decision, Sam threw a few rocks at the strange boy. However, they passed through him without any damage. 

He stuck his tongue out at the group. “That was mean, but luckily for me, stuff like that can’t do any damage.” A devilish grin crossed his face as his hand began to glow a sickly green. “Although I’m not allowed to touch Plasmius’ target, I’m allowed to have some fun with anyone else who gets trapped.”

“Run?” 

“Run!” Danny and Sam yelled in response to Tucker’s question. The three of them quickly ran off down the trail. 

As they moved, the forest around them seemed to grow darker and more menacing as the trail became harder to follow. After what felt like hours, the three of them finally came to a stop in a decently sized clearing as Tucker and Danny had reached their limit. 

“Guys, I don’t think this is normal.” At Sam’s strange statement, the boys looked at their surroundings. The trees appeared dead and were a strange and unnatural gray color. The sky above them was a radioactive green mixed in with swirls of a neon purple. 

Someone behind them began clapping. They turned to see a figure wearing white approach them from the trees. Instead of being a child like the previous one, this one was clearly an adult male. Its skin was a sickly blue, and its dark hair almost looked like horns. 

“You’ve led me on a merry chase,” it told them. Its voice was cultured and confident. Danny caught a glimpse of fangs as it spoke “However, I was only supposed to take one of you. What exactly should I do with the extras?”

“You could let us go. Pretty please?” When Danny and Sam shot Tucker an incredulous look, he quickly defended himself. “What? It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“I appreciate your attempt at civility,” the creature told him. “However, it that is not something I can easily do. You see, it’s fairly difficult to bring over more than one human at once with normal techniques. That bird of Youngblood’s is something to behold. Its magic is just subtle enough to distract someone just long enough for one of us to take him or her. I must find out if I can get one of my own.”

“Where are we? What are you?” Danny demanded, sounding a lot braver than he felt. This things was terrifying. 

“It’s rather rude to ask that, but you’re clearly frightened, so allow me to explain. “I am called Plasmius, and this is the realm of the dead.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: shout out to anyone who caught my unintentional Superman reference. I’m serious; I didn’t intend to do it. It just happened. 

For the international readers, 1 yard is about 91 centimeters, and 1 foot is approximately 30.5 centimeters. Most Americans do learn the Metric System at one point or another during school, but we still use the Imperial System for most daily things. Scientific measurements are almost always in metric though. The powers to be have tried to convert us to metric, and it failed.

I’m not certain exactly how dark or graphic I’m going to get with this story just yet. My mind has been telling me somethings, but I don’t particularly like talking about gore due to personal preference (blood is a completely different matter), so I will probably just let your minds fill in the blanks and only mention things I find important.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a ghost shows hospitality... to an extent

"You're clearly frightened, so allow me to explain," the creature told them with a flourished bow. "I am called Plasmius, and this is the realm of the dead."

"And does that make you a ghost or something?" Sam spat, sounding both angry and skeptical.

"Something like that," Plasmius agreed before seemingly fading out of sight. Before they had a chance to response, he reappeared behind them. His red eyes appraised them, but specifically seemed to focus on Danny. "I've been watching you for a long time."

Danny slowly backed away from the so-called ghost as he sarcastically stated, "I'm not sure if I should be flattered or scared."

"Now Daniel, that's no way to speak to an old friend."

"Psst, do you know this guy?" Tucker whispered as he also tried to escape from its gaze.

"Last time I checked, I didn't know anyone this creepy or glowing."

"I understand your doubts." Plasmius grinned, revealing glistening fangs. "Sadly, it's rare for humans to remember their time in this realm, but when you wandered in this realm before, I played with and entertained you until you found your way home. We then played again when you were a bit older, but again, you found your way home."

"Err… thanks? I think." Danny still wasn't sure what to make of this creature. Something told him Plasmius wasn't exactly lying, but he was certainly omitting important details. Still, if it was going to be somewhat cordial towards him and his friends, it wouldn't hurt to try to be nice. "You wouldn't happen to know how we can get home, would you?"

"Of course I do."

"Great! Could you please take us there or at least tell us how?"

"You want to leave already? But you've only just arrived, and I've put an extraordinary amount of effort into arranging our reunion." Plasmius' grin turned predatory. "Come with me. I would gladly entertain you and your friends."

"Thanks for the offer, but we really should be getting back," Danny told the specter as he grabbed both of his friends and tried to get them to back away. "Our teacher and classmates are probably looking for us."

"And not to mention the Park Rangers are already on high alert," Tucker added.

"Do you really think I am concerned about them?" Plasmius just laughed as he vanished again. His disembodied voice seemed to come from everywhere in the clearing.

Danny had just enough time to turn to his right side and catch sight of Plasmius reappearing before something hit him in the back of the neck. As his vision darkened, he heard his friends screaming his name as well as Plasmius saying, "Like I previous stated, I spent a lot of time orchestrating our meeting. You are not leaving that easily."

….

When Danny came to, he was in an unfamiliar location. He was seated at a grand table, much like he had seen in movies depicting royal banquets. The room where he was had high ceilings and seemed to match the feel of the table. The walls seemed to be white stone, but something seemed off about them. He wasn't certain if it was something about the color itself, or if it was how empty the room seemed because aside from the table, there were no noticeable decorations.

He then noticed there were silver plates and bowls covered in pristine and delicious looking food in front of him. As interesting and enticing the food looked, he wasn't really able to determine exactly what they were. It made him uneasy, but the smell was starting to overcome him. It wouldn't hurt to take a bite, would it? A quick shake of the head quickly dispelled that thought. Without knowing exactly where he was or where his friends were, he shouldn't touch anything he didn't recognize.

After glancing around and making sure he was alone, he tried to stand only to find that he seemed stuck to his chair. He could move his hands and arms without trouble, but everywhere from his waist down was stuck. There was no sign of any visible tie or restraint, so he couldn't understand exactly why he couldn't remove himself. He made several attempts to try to stand, and although he was able to push the chair away from the table, his attempts only succeeded in tipping himself over.

"Why Daniel, you didn't touch your meal." Danny looked up to see Plasmius looking down at him while wearing a frown. The creature then disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the table and took a seat as Danny's chair seemed to right itself without any form of assistance and return to its place at the table.

"I think I'll pass," he replied as he glared at Plasmius. "Where are my friends? Why can't I get out of this chair?"

"Your friends are resting in a room upstairs. As for the chair," he chuckled darkly, "it is nothing but a simple trick. You might learn how to do it one day."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's nothing with which you should concern yourself." Plasmius appraised him for a few moments. "You mentioned you have no memory of our previous encounters?"

"That's right. I only remember what happened after I was found."

"It's tragic really. There are weak spots between the worlds of the living and the dead, and humans occasionally find them. Usually, it is not an issue. The human may feel uneasy or sometimes get a glimpse of what lies behind the veil, so to speak." After chuckling as if he had made some sort of inside joke, Plasmius continued. "Sometimes that weak spot momentarily breaks and travel between the two words can occur. However, humans often need to catch sight of or hear something in this realm to travel to this side."

Danny's eyes widened. "You mean like that bird thing?"

"Exactly. Like I mentioned, Youngblood's pet is incredibly usefully for that purpose."

"So you purposely used that to bring me and my friends here?"

"Of course. Although, my intention was only to retrieve you. Their presence was entirely unintentional, but seeing how close you seem to be, in hindsight, it seems it would have been inevitable. You should be glad I am the one who found them as I can guarantee their safety. Others who live in this realm may not be as kind."

A cold chill ran down Danny's back at Plasmius' words as the image of Mikey being carried by that other creature resurfaced. "One of my other classmates… that thing took him, and Lester! Something killed him!"

"Yes," Plasmius' tone now sounded almost bored. "Youngblood is simply looking for a permanent companion. I doubt he'll purposely harm your classmate too severely, but humans don't always acclimate to this realm very well. I believe that is what happened to the one who passed on to this side."

"What do you mean? What happened to him?" Once again, Danny tried to stand, but to no avail.

"Ah ah, that is a discussion we should save for later. You should eat, son."

"I'm not hungry." Danny breathed deeply as he tried to keep his temper under control. It didn't seem to be a good idea to make Plasmius angry, and he still wasn't certain if his friends were okay. "Look, I know you're trying to be nice, and I appreciate it, but I'm worried about my friends. People are probably looking for us."

Plasmius regarded him for a moment. "If I show you that your friends are safe, will you then sit and have a proper conversation with me?"

"Maybe? Yes. I don't know."

"Very well." The ghost stood and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Come along now, Daniel. I will take you to your friends."

After giving him a searching look, Danny hesitantly tried to stand. This time, he was able to move without restraint. Once he was out of the chair, the urge to bolt nearly over took him. Although he really wanted to be as far away from Plasmius as he could, running from his could potentially doom his friends. That was the last thing he wanted. So, after a deep breath, he slowly followed Plasmius towards the staircase at the far end of the room.

What seemed to be several minutes passed as Danny followed Plasmius. The building they were in seemed to be either a mansion or possibly a castle, if he was to judge from how large it was. The coloration was similar to what he saw in the dining hall, but there were other decorations of green and gold in places. Strangely, those decorations seemed almost out of place, but Danny was unable to exactly pinpoint why.

Although Plasmius previously demonstrated an ability to at least float, he was now walking a little ahead of the teen. It just felt off to Danny. It was as if Plasmius was purposely trying to seem more human. While it was possible his host was just trying to be polite, it was doing little more than making him more unsettled.

Eventually, Plasmius stopped in front of a room. After taking a moment to unlock the door, he pushed it open. Danny was briefly greeted with the sight of his friends standing up from a large bed when the door was slammed shut.

"Sam! Tucker! I'm right here!" He could hear his friends yelling his name as he slammed his fists on the door and tried to push it back open. "What gives?" he demanded as he turned to face the specter.

"I promised I would show you that your friends are perfectly safe, and I did." Plasmius' grin widened as he grabbed Danny's arm. The teen tried to break free, but the ghost's grip was almost like a vice. "Now boy, it is time for our long overdue conversation."

….

Although Sam liked to think of herself as a strong and independent young woman who could handle herself in most situations, she had to admit that she was at a loss on what to do. When she came to, she and Tucker where in what appeared to be a guest bedroom. Other than the normal furniture, the quality of which suggested the own had some money, there was little in the way of decoration, so it was unlikely the room was often used. There was one window which was locked, but Sam was unable to find any sort of mechanism that would allow her to open it. The only visible door was also locked.

"Pacing angrily around the room isn't going to do anything," Tucker told her as he fiddled with his PDA as he sat on the bed. She just glared at him. "Seriously, you're making me dizzy."

"I'm just frustrated," she sat across from him on the bed. "We don't know where we are, and we have no idea where Danny is, or what that thing could have done to him. And to make matters worse, I can't figure out how to get out of this."

"I know, and I'm upset too, but until we have more information, we can't do anything." After pressing a few buttons on his machine, he smiled at the notification he received. "While I can't tell you where we are, I was able to get a hit from Danny's phone. He's at least in this building."

"I don't think that makes me feel any better. We don't know what that think wants with Danny or what it will do with us."

"I'm trying not to think about it." Tucker looked up from his devise. His frown and furrowed brows told her he was worried. "Hey, do you happen to have any food with you?"

"Told you should have packed some before we left." Sam momentarily left the bed to retrieve her discarded backpack. "I know you probably won't like it, but I did bring some granolas with me."

"I'll take it," Tucker told her, much to her surprise, as he held out his hand. "I'm that hungry, and I think my brain needs the extra energy. There's no service here either, but my PDA keeps trying to connect with something. I've been trying to get into whatever it is, but I'm not sure if there's interference or if its purposely cycling between strong and weak signals. If I can get into it, maybe I can send a distress signal."

She handed him the snack. "It's worth a shot. Hey, what was that?"

The sound of something at the door caught Sam's attention. After an audible click, the door opened to show Plasmius and someone else. It took a second for her to register the second person, but it was Danny. Getting to her feet, she was about to run to him only to have the door slam shut before she had a chance to move.

That didn't stop her. She screamed Danny's name as she bolted to the door and started to try to open it. She barely registered that Tucker was right beside her, or that she could faintly hear Danny's voice on the opposite side. Her next memories were a bit hazy, but Tucker eventually had her sit as she tried to calm herself.

Her memories kept showing her that momentary glimpse of Danny. Something happened to him. Something strange, but she was having trouble registering what was wrong. "Tucker, his hair was white. Not black, white."

"I know. I saw him too." He sat next to her and rubbed her shoulder.

"You seem a bit distressed, hmm." The two teens looked up to see Plasmius floating above them. "Do not fret. Young Daniel is safe with me, but I still have yet to determine what I should do with you two."

"What did you do to Danny?" Sam snapped at him as she stood. She would not look weak in front of this thing.

"Who me? I didn't do anything to him. His body is just adjusting to this world."

"What… what are you talking about?" Tucker stammered as he also stood.

Plasmius smiled. "If you partake of the land of the dead, you must remain in it, or so the old adage goes. When he was a child, Daniel did so, and as he has returned, this world has laid claim to him. I'm actually very impressed as the process often goes awry. I can't tell you how many times I've seen it happen."

"Are you telling me that Danny's becoming like you?" The thought horrified Sam. What else on her friend would change? Did… did Plasmius mean Danny would actually die?

"I certainly hope so, but I'm not exactly sure what form he'll take. This world can do strange things to the humans it turns, but enough about that. I came here to debate what to do with you two." Plasmius regarded the pair for a few moments before he began to pace about a foot off the floor. "I could simply kill the two of you, but Daniel would not appreciate the loss of his two friends. I could let you go, but that could cause me unnecessary trouble. While it is unlikely you will remember your time here, it is possible, and letting you go too soon could bring unwanted attention. Oh, I know," the grin he gave them sent chills down Sam's spine, "I could try to induce the process in the two of you."

"Don't you come near us!" Sam warned as she crouched in a defensive stance. She was still stuck against the door, but there was no way she was going to let that thing touch her again.

"Hey, don't antagonize him!" Tucker whispered. "I'm just as scared of him, but maybe we can use this. He doesn't seem to want to kill us now, and if he can get us out of this room…"

Maybe they would get led to Danny, and maybe the three of them could escape. It was the best plan they had since there didn't seem to be a way out of the room, but if it failed… Actually, Sam wasn't exactly sure what would happen if they failed.

Tucker seemed to have thoughts along the same line, so he asked, "What exactly are you going to do?"

"Ah, so you are interested. The easiest method is to eat some of the food of this world, but the results are not always guaranteed. After all the experiments I've run, it seems like young children have the highest success rate."

"And what happens if it fails?" Sam questioned, uncertain if she would like the answer. "And what experiments? You've been kidnapping humans?"

Plasmius' smile disappeared as his eyes narrowed. "I want young Daniel to remain with me, but humans cannot remain in the realm of the dead indefinitely, so I wanted to make sure his transformation would be successful. I don't expect you to understand my rationale or methods." He moved closer and looked them over carefully. If Sam had to guess, it seemed as if he was trying to determine something regarding the process he mentioned. "The question becomes how to do this successfully. I certainly don't want Daniel upset if this fails and you end up dead and possibly horribly mutilated."

"What?"

"It sadly happens sometimes." Vlad dismissing tone and wave of the hand made it sound as if that was of no concern of his. "When the process fails, it simply kills, but sometimes the process begins and fails, and that is when the more interesting deaths occur. Some of the results are quite gruesome. That is what happened to the man who went missing prior to your arrival."

"How… how did you know about that?" Tucker whispered. His eyes were wide, and he was shaking.

"How else? I'm the one who took him."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: regarding Plasmius' explanations, I am heavily drawing from mythology and legends here. Many stories from around the world state that if you partake of the food of another realm (whether it be the dead, the gods, faeries, etc.), you will be permanently stuck there. In some tales, you remain as a human, and in others, you are transformed. There are other tales that state you can leave, but you will die when you return.

Regarding the more gruesome details, this again comes from some of the reported tales regarding mysterious deaths. In the cases mentioned in the Missing 411 series, if the missing person was found dead, the cause of death is often undetermined, and there aren't usually severe injuries – maybe some scrapes or bruises. However, there are some strange stories reported by Park Rangers and Search and Rescue regarding people they've found who are rather… well… we'll go with messed up and leave it at that. In those cases that can't be explained by an animal, an accident, self-inflicted, or other person, the Rangers and/or Search and Rescue are often at a loss to explain what happened.

So, this is how brain has taken it for this story regarding deaths. Missing and never found – successfully becomes a ghost. Missing and found, intact – process failed or killed by ghost. Missing and found, not intact – process started and failed or killed by ghost. The killed by ghost mention will get explained later, although it was briefly alluded to in this chapter. There are certain things I'm hoping to explain within the story in a later chapter, but if that changes, there will still be a note which will explain it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discussions go south, and Plasmius shows just how flippant he is towards the fates of his other guests.

Danny was unnerved by the turn of events. After his ultimatum, Plasmius somehow pulled him through the floor and sat him back at the same table as before. If he had to describe the experience, it was a mix of having his stomach drop while his body went entirely numb, and if he was honest, for a brief moment, it felt like his body didn't exist. It left him chilled to the core, although he wasn't certain if that chill was mental, physical, or a mixture of the two.

Plasmius didn't seem bothered by the action, which would make sense if he really was a ghost. However, it was clear he wasn't in the same cordial mood as before. Instead, he seemed both impatient and distracted at the same time. He didn't speak. He just stared at Danny as if he was waiting for something.

"You're creeping me out," Danny told him when the staring got too much to handle. "Look, you wanted to talk to me, and it's not like I can go anywhere." Like before, he was once again stuck to the chair, but this time he noticed there seemed to be a faintly glowing green substance. If he had to guess, that was what was keeping him in place. "How about you explain how we originally met? You said you helped me when I got lost before, right?"

"That I did," Plasmius replied as his posture relaxed. "It's not every day a young boy appears at the door steps of my castle. While I'm not exactly sure what lured you to this realm first, I do know you appeared frightened and asked for my assistance. Normally, I would have turned a child away, but something about you caught my interest so I provided you with food, shelter, and entertainment until a weak spot, a portal so to speak, between the realms once again formed."

"You had piqued my interest so much that I kept a watch on you over the years," he continued as watched Danny closely. "I believe you may have caught glimpses of me, but we didn't meet face to face again until you wandered into the woods behind your house one particular day. Once again, I entertained you until you could make it back on your own."

Plasmius' story seemed plausible, but there was something about it that was bothering Danny. Something important was being omitted, but he was at a loss to understand what that might be. What would make this ghost so interested in him of all people? "Are you sure you have the right person? I mean, I'm pretty average."

The ghost gave him an incredulous look. "You are the only son of doctors Madeline and Jack Fenton, are you not? Aren't you the same boy who went missing for a week when you were out berry picking with your aunt and sister?"

"I am, but…"

"But you do not understand why you're here, correct?" When Danny hesitantly nodded, Plasmius gave him a chilling grin. "Simple, I've been looking for an heir. Over the years, I've had plenty of workers and servants, but none of them have met the criteria. You, on the other hand, have the potential that only a handful ever have."

"I still don't understand…" Danny was sure Plasmius was now playing with him, and it was giving him a headache. Actually, was it a headache? Or did he still feel off from going through the floor earlier? He leaned his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes.

"You'll understand in due time." There was a strange pause. When Plasmius spoke again, he seemed concerned. "Daniel? Daniel, what's wrong? Butter biscuits. You appeared to be responding so well previously… Is this a backlash?"

Danny felt his body suddenly lurk forward. He barely registered that his back was no longer stuck to the chair as his vision swam. In an attempt to calm his head, he rested his head in his hands and breathed steadily. His body shuddered every so often as chills started, and a groan escaped him. This was the worst timing for him to get sick.

He could vaguely sense that Plasmius was now beside him. The ghost carefully touched his shoulder and then forehead before unexpectedly lifting him. When he tried to protest, Plasmius ignored him and plunged them both through the floor.

….

"How else? I'm the one who took him."

A creeping fear gripped Sam. Although she had known the specter should not be trusted, she hadn't quite expected him to be forthcoming regarding deaths. Although, she did had to acknowledge that death might not be as big of a taboo to a ghost, it did nothing to ease her concerns.

"I find it best to test my plans ahead of time," Plasmius continued. He seemed to be enjoying her and Tucker's fear. "And with such a varied success rate, it was better to use as many test subjects as possible. Hmm… I forgot it is possible for Daniel to lose part, if not all of his memory. Should I wait to act until after the process finishes?" He continued to mutter to himself for a few moments before he grew very still.

"Is it just me," she whispered, making Tucker jump, "or does it seem like he's distracted?"

"I think you're right," he agreed as he gave her a searching look, "and, that's going to help us how?"

"He might have keys or something. I mean, he locked us in here somehow."

"Sam, he didn't use the door, and I don't think attempting to tackle someone who openly admitted to murder will end up going too well for us."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Tucker sighed. "On three?"

Normally, Sam would say something smart regarding her victory, but this wasn't the time for it. "On three," she agreed.

Instead of their normal verbal countdown, Sam used her fingers to count. When she reached three, the two of them lunged at Plasmius. Instead of hitting something solid, Sam felt like she had been plunged into a bucket of ice water before she and Tucker crashed into the ground. She was stunned for a second before she glanced towards the ghost. He was still there. How…?

As if he read her mind, the ghost sneered at her. "Such a pity. That may have worked on a human, but if you didn't know, most ghosts can become intangible. But enough of these games, I have need of your assistance. It appears Daniel isn't doing quite as well as I hoped."

"What did you do to him?" Sam demanded as she scrambled to her feet.

"I haven't done a thing!" Plasmius pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing. "I don't have time for this. Come here." Sam and Tucker barely had time to react before Plasmius lunged forward, grabbed them by the arm, and pulled them through the floor.

After the freezing sensation subsided, Sam glanced around and gasped. She and Tucker were now in what appeared to be a modern lab, and in the middle of it was what appeared to be an examination table. After a double take, she realized there was a second Plasmius hovering over it.

The Plasmius who brought them to the room moved to the other one as disappeared into it. The now singular Plasmius turned to look at them, and by doing so, she had a better view of the examination table and who was on it.

"Danny!" she and Tucker shouted. She tried to run towards him, but Plasmius blocked their way.

"Don't shout," he snapped at them. "Daniel is in a precarious situation."

"Oh, so now you show concern?"

"I told you, I don't wish any harm on him. However," he glanced behind him at the unconscious boy. He was very still, but his shuddering breaths indicated he was still alive. However, his appearance seemed to ripple. His hair was still white, but it would momentarily flicker to black. His skin now seemed to have turned a strange tan, almost the same color as very old paper, but it would fade back to the healthy and pale skin tone Danny naturally had, "his body can't figure out which form it needs to take, and I can't have him completely dying on me."

Sam shared a look with Tucker. That statement didn't make any sense. If he was a ghost and wanted Danny to stay with him, why wouldn't he want Danny to die?

"What exactly do you need us for?" Tucker hesitantly questioned.

"Right now, I simply need you to watch him. There is research I must do before I take further action." A strange, almost smug grin appeared on his face which gave Sam the creeps. "Perhaps it was an unexpected blessing you ended up coming as well. If Daniel's condition continues going south, then I might be able to use your blood to strengthen him."

"Our… our what?"

"You have no idea how much power the essence of life holds for the dead. Putting that aside, that is not something I would consider unless it becomes absolutely necessary as Daniel would not appreciate it, no matter how noble the cause." He regarded them carefully for a moment. "I will return shortly." Plasmius took a few floating steps forward before he faded out of sight.

Sam let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. That… that think was seriously considering using their blood? As sick as it sounded, she had a nagging feeling she had come across that same concept before. Something about providing clarity? She quickly brushed the idea aside. She was probably just remembering something that came out of one of her gothic horror stories, and fiction was not what she needed at that moment.

Now that Plasmius was gone, she carefully approached Danny. His brows were furrowed, and he wore a slight frown as he rested, but there was a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. If it wasn't for the weird thing his skin and hair was doing, she would have guessed he was just fighting off a fever. Maybe that's what was wrong. Maybe his body was fighting off some ghostly bug. It was as just as plausible as anything else this world had to offer.

"Danny?" she hesitantly whispered as she gently shook his shoulder. When he didn't respond, she began a little more forceful as she tried to ignore how cold he felt.

"Wha…?" Danny's voice was incredibly sleepy as he finally stirred. He tried to sit up, but immediately fell back to laying flat. "What happened? Did someone catch… urgh… the license plate on that truck?"

Despite herself, she let out a weak chuckle. "I think that's one thing ghosts might not have. How are you feeling?"

"I dunno… I've heard of ghost trucks before." Now that he was more awake, it was obvious Danny was not doing well. Even though he was still trying to joke, his voice was weak and soft. When his eyes opened and flickered towards her, she noticed they were now a dull green. "Sam? When did you…?" His eyes widened in alarm, and he tried to sit up. Worried, she tried to help him. "Where's Tucker? Where did Plasmius… ugh…"

As Danny held his head, Tucker came over to him. "You might want to take it easy. We're perfectly fine, but you look like Dash got a hold of you that one time when he was nearly suspended after breaking that freshman's leg."

"That bad? Plasmius didn't do anything to you?"

"I mean, he did lock us in a room and kinda threatened us."

Danny's eyes momentarily became a brighter green at Tucker's statement. "That asshole! I thought he was just interested in me." He tried to inch towards the edge of the table but stopped as he swayed. "Woah…"

"Dude, I mean it, you should take it easy right now. We're fine. He didn't actually hurt us, yet."

"Tucker! What he means is that Plasmius was debating what to do with us, but since he seems to want to stay on your good side, he's not interested in hurting us." Sam deliberately left out Plasmius' mention about them possibly becoming like him and whatever Danny might be. Did Danny even know what was happening to him? Biting her lip, she hesitantly asked, "Err, what happened to you?"

"I… I really don't know. I think Plasmius just talked to me, but I don't know what happened between that weird forest… and… and waking up at that table. I started feeling sick after he phased me through the floor after he showed me you two were okay." He glanced around. "Where are we exactly? Is this a lab?"

"It is," Tucker responded. Sam looked over to see he was fiddling with one of the computers. "I finally figured out that this is where that signal from earlier was coming from, but I don't understand why a ghost would have computers like this." He tapped a few buttons which caused the screen in front of him to change. "Well, that was easy. Let's see what he's up to?" After a few more taps, a folder opened. "Oh? Oh my god….!"

Concerned by the tone of his voice, Sam went over to investigate. It was a decision she was fairly certain she was going to regret for the rest of her life. The images on the screen… they had to be some of Plasmius' failed experiments. "I'm going to be sick. Tucker! Change it!"

"What? What is it?" Danny called from the table.

"It… it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Tucker quickly minimized the folder. Catching he didn't completely log out of it, she sent him a questioning glance. He just pointed towards his PDA, which looked like it was downloading something. With a start, she realized he was downloading the files onto his PDA. "In case we make it out of here," he explained as he opened a second folder.

This time, it just appeared to be a bunch of employee profiles. However, there were two major company logos that kept appearing on the profiles: VladCo and DALV. "Wait, are these Vlad's employees? Why would a ghost have files on them?"

"Sam, I think these are most of the victims," Tucker whispered to her. "If… if I didn't know better, it almost seems like he's been specifically targeting them."

A strange idea crossed Sam's mind. It was so incredulous, but that the same time, she couldn't shake it. "Do… do you think Vlad is working for or with Plasmius?"

Tucker gave her a long hard look. "I really hope that's not the case, but how else would Plasmius get technology like this?"

"And didn't Plasmius say he arranged this meeting with Danny? And we saw Vlad at camp. Was he there to double check things?"

"Guys?" Danny's hesitant and distressed question brought Sam and Tucker's attention back to him. He was staring at his hand, or where his hand was supposed to be. It was gone, but there was no sign of blood or trauma. It was just gone. After a moment, it faded back into visibility. "Guys, what's happening to me?"

"I… I really don't know Danny," Sam truthfully replied. "It might have something to do with us being here. I mean, Plasmius did say this was the land of the dead." She tried not to wince as she fibbed. If Danny was in the dark regarding what happened to him, she really didn't want to alarm him, especially when she didn't know to fix it.

Tucker seemed to catch her reasoning as he added, "It might stop when we get out of here."

Danny tried to glare at them but was unable to muster much of one as he swayed again. "Guys, I know you're hiding something. What's… hey, what was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Shh! Listen!"

A grinding sound slowly filled the room. The three looked around to try to find a source, but it seemed to come from thin air. After a moment, Sam caught movement. One of the floor's large flagstones was beginning to shift.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Note: Plasmius' slip up was done on purpose. Yay foreshadowing.

Also, drawing back into mythology/legends for the blood thing. If you travel all the way back to ancient Greece, there was a believe that the way for a ghost or shade to recover its senses and sense of self was to provide it with blood. This can be human or animal, and this is actually referenced in The Odyssey. This is because the Greeks believed the spirit and blood were closely tied together, which is also seen in Vampiric lore. 

This concept of providing some form of essence to other realms continued, but as time passed, it became more associated with food offerings. Those of the other realms did not 'eat' the food, but instead they took what is best phrased as the vitality, essence, or energy of it. This force, for lack of a better term, is sometimes referred to as foyson or toradh. The food offering varies from culture to culture. And interestingly, if food was not offered, then the otherworldly forces took revenge and/or brought misfortune.

So, for this story, "food" is very important… and I don't think I originally set out to do that. From what I understand, most of you have guessed Danny is still a 'halfa' for this story, and since, like previously mentioned for this AU, food is the easiest to acquire, use, and understand, Plasmius is using the duality between what's found in the realm of the dead and the world of the living to try to keep Danny's two halves balanced during his transition. Human blood is a more potent carrier of this essence, so as things go south, he's considering it.

Also, per this story, the blood thing is yet another reason humans are sometimes taken by ghosts. There are a lot of possible reasons for abductions in this story.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected allies and escape attempts

"Hey, is it just me, or is the floor moving?" Danny questioned as he stared at the moving stone.

"No, it's not just you," Sam confirmed as she glanced at her friend. Although he was sitting rod straight as he watched, his coloration was still flickering, and there now seemed to be a green tinge to his cheeks.

"Don't you think we should run?" Tucker's question nearly made Sam snort. With Danny getting worse, there was no way he'd be able to escape with them.

Before anyone had a change to respond, the stone completely lifted and shifted to the side, exposing a hole. Seconds later, a furry head popped out. They watched in silent horror as it flicked one of its ears as if hear them and turned to face them.

The face that greeted them was terrifying. If Sam had to describe it, the appearance was like an angry polar bear who happened to have icy horns. Maybe calling it a yeti would be more accurate, but she could argue with herself about the semantics once she was out of this mess.

They just stared at the thing in the floor until it smiled at them. Whatever spell its sudden appearance held over them was broken, and they yelled in terror. There where several seconds of confusion as the three of them tried to escape. Tucker was halfway to the door while Sam tried to help Danny, who had fallen off the table, when the thing spoke.

"Children, please do not be alarmed," it gently requested as it raised itself up from the floor. Its entire body was covered in that same white fur, save for its one arm, which appeared to be made from ice. In an almost bemused afterthought, Sam noted it wore a blue clothing article which may have been a kilt. "We don't have much time before Plasmius returns."

When they didn't respond of move, the creature continued to speak as it tried to look as non-threatening as possible. "I am call Frostbite, the leader of the Far Frozen. I am lucky to have found out about you when I did. Plasmius has killed many humans in his experiments. If you allow me, I will help you return to your home."

"Why should we trust you? How do we know you won't take us somewhere and eat us?" Tucker demanded as he inched closer to Danny and Sam.

It laughed heartily at Tucker's question. "Myself as well as my clan do not eat people. We have made it the goal of our afterlives to try to assist as many wayward humans as we possibly can." Frostbite's smile faded. "However, I acknowledge your concern. This is the first time we have met, and if Plasmius has been your first encounter with the those of us from this realm, then you most likely do not think highly of us." It, possibly he, glanced at Danny as his coloration cycled again. "You are ill, and if you do not leave this place soon, you may not be able to return to the land of the living."

There was a tense moment as Sam and the boys stared at Frostbite. It… no, he… seemed genuine. Although his face was frightening, his eyes were sincere and almost seemed to plead with them.

"Alright," Danny eventually stated as he slowly stood, "but, you have to swear you won't hurt them!"

"I swear it on my honor, young one."

"Psst, Danny, what are you doing?" Tucker angrily whispered as he tugged on Danny's sleeve. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Call me crazy, but I think it's much less risky to go with him then it is to stay here and wait for Plasmius," Danny responded as he tested his footing. "He's a lot more honest than Plasmius, that's for sure."

"You noticed it too?" Sam was impressed he picked up on it. Although, Danny was often clueless when it came to certain social cues, particularly flirting, he did have an amazing talent for picking up on whether someone was being honest.

Tucker looked at both of them for a disbelieving moment before he shook his head. "Alright. I'll follow your lead on this, but if we get eaten, I'm blaming you."

"Young one, do you require assistance?" Frostbite asked as he eyed Danny, who appeared to be somewhat lightheaded as he tried to walk.

"It's Danny, and no, I can handle it."

A frown crossed Frostbite's face for a moment before he scurried forward and scooped Danny into his arms. "I understand your desire to escape on your own, but you are not well, and time is of the essence." Frostbite then instructed Sam and Tucker to enter the hole in the floor first. Once they were safely inside which was revealed to be a tunnel, he handed Danny to them. He then entered the tunnel and carefully replaced the floor's stone.

There was little light in the tunnel save for the slight glow Frostbite and occasionally Danny produced. As if sensing their concern, Frostbite held up his hand (or was it more of a paw?) and created a soft blue light. "This way, children," he instructed as he began to walk. "I am sorry I cannot produce a better light source, but if I generate much more energy, Plasmius may discover our location."

"I was wondering why we were doing things so old school," Tucker whispered.

As Sam rolled her eyes at him. If it wasn't for the fact she and Tucker were both supporting Danny as they walked, she probably would have smacked him for being rude. But, his statement did bring up an interesting point. "So, you could have gotten us out in an easier way, but Plasmius would have caught us?"

"Correct. Most sentient ghosts can easily phase through walls, unless the object is something native to this world or is coated in something that disrupts our powers or repels us. Plasmius' palace is unusual as much of it is created from materials taken from the human realm, but his reputation and the barrier he uses is able to keep most ghosts away. He is very unkind to trespassers." Frostbite glanced back at them. "I know young Danny's name, but I have yet to learn yours."

As weird as it sounded, Sam was embarrassed by that lapse in courtesy. She quickly introduced herself, and Tucker followed suit.

"Sam and Tucker! Such fitting names!" The strange ghost seemed pleased, but after a moment, he stopped walking, so he could turn and look at them. "Please alert me immediately if you notice you are not feeling well or notice something strange about yourself." After they promised, Frostbite nodded and continued forward. "This world can do strange things to those who unintentionally enter it, and there are many ways the changes can occur."

"Can… can I ask a question?" Once Frostbite agreed, Danny continued, "I'm sorry if this is a bit rude, but were you human?"

"That I was." The ghost didn't appear bothered by the question. "While many of my human memories have faded over time, I do remember that I was once an explorer. As for how I came this this realm, I am uncertain, but I do know that by the time I once again found a way back to the world of the living, I appeared much how you see me now. Many of my clan seem were also explorers or those who spent a great deal of time in the woods or mountains. We are not sure why we have taken this form, but we use it to our advantage. We often patrol areas where portal formation is common and try to scare humans away from them. However, more recently we have been finding more and more humans who seem to be looking for us." He seemed absolutely puzzled by the concept.

Sam shared a look with her friends. Did that mean that he and his clan were what people considered Bigfoot? Maybe she was reading too much into it, but that's what it seemed like.

"So, does that happen to everyone who dies? Cuz I don't know if I can handle the fact I might not keep these good looks when I die," Tucker whined.

The soft blue light flickered as Frostbite chuckled. "I don't believe you have to worry. While it is possible, you are unlikely to become a ghost if you expire outside of this realm. However, I am no expert regarding the mysteries of life and death."

"But what happens if you die here?" It was Sam's turn to ask a question.

"It seems to vary. Some die, but their souls do not remain here. For others, their body and soul mingle and change, creating a ghost."

"That almost sounds like a zombie," Sam mumbled to herself.

Frostbite chuckled again. "I understand why you would think as such. However, zombies can only exist in your world. They are corpses reanimated, often through magic, but lack a soul. For us, our earthly bodies are somehow a catalyst for the new form our soul takes, but even though I have seen it happen, I do not understand the process."

His explanation somewhat made sense, Sam mused. It also lined up with what Plasmius mentioned about how his experiments didn't always work. Although, it posed a more troubling question. What exactly would happen to Danny? If he really did die and become a ghost, did that mean there would be no body for his family to bury? It was a troubling thought that wouldn't go away no matter how much Sam tried to think of something else.

However, something Sam also noted was that Danny was avoiding asking questions regarding what was happening to him. Other than when his hands flickered in and out of visibility in the lab, he hadn't brought up the subject. It was possible he was focusing on escaping. However, with the new knowledge Frostbite had given them, he was probably in some sort of denial. She wasn't certain if she'd be able to be as calm if she was the one affected.

What seemed like an hour later, although her sense of time could have been altered due to the darkness, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. It wasn't a moment too soon as Danny had fainted when they had first caught sight of the exit. Once outside, she and Tucker carefully sat Danny down, so they could take a quick break. Once she was certain Danny was settled, she took the chance to look around.

In front of them was a think yet somewhat dead looking forest, like what they first found themselves in when they fled from the first ghost. Behind her was the tunnel which had been cut into what appeared to be a rock outcropping. If it wasn't for the strange coloration, it could have looked like something found in the forests back home.

She started when Frostbite gave a quick whistle. Moments later, four more ghosts who had similar appearances to Frostbite appeared from within the forest. They had to be part of the clan the ghost had mentioned while they were escaping. The group exchanged a few words before Frostbite beckoned to the humans behind him.

"Children, do not be alarmed. These are members of my clan, and they will be assisting us in your escape. However, we need to stop at our realm first as we have an object that will help us locate when and where a portal will open. I would also like to assess Danny's health." The ghost frowned at the form of the unconscious teenager. "You have probably guessed this realm has a grip on him, but he is resisting the change more intensely than I have ever seen."

"That means he'll be able to come home with us, right?" Tucker's question was full of a wary hope.

"I am… uncertain. We may have to seek the wisdom of an older entity to know for sure."

…

The world wouldn't stop spinning when Danny finally came to. After rolling over and relieving the contents of his stomach, he finally was able to think clearly enough to take stock of his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be some type of medical room. Although the walls appeared to be made of ice, there was a light and almost friendly atmosphere about the place.

A sound caught his attention, and he turned just in time to see white creature duck out of the room. Puzzled at the reaction, it wasn't until it returned to the room with Frostbite that he realized it was simply retrieving the other ghost.

"You've wakened, young one!" Frostbite seemed exuberant as he examined him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got spun around in one of those centrifuges at space camp way too many times," Danny replied as he rubbed his head. Although the dizziness had subsided, he still felt somewhat ill. "Where are Sam and Tucker?"

"They are resting in another room. They've been eagerly waiting for news of your awakening."

Danny sighed in relief at the news. "Will I be able to see them?"

"Absolutely, but first I would like to discuss something with you," Frostbite sat down at a chair near the bed Danny was using. Somewhat unnerved by how serious Frostbite seemed to be, he carefully sat up and gestured for him to continue. "Your circumstance is nothing like what any of us have ever seen before."

"My circumstance?" That didn't sound good. Did it have to do with something Plasmius did to him?

"Yes. Before I explain, I need to ask if you've eaten anything while you were here?"

Danny shook his head. "Unless Plasmius fed me something when I was unconscious, then no. Wait," he paused for a moment as he tried to remember what Plasmius had told him, "maybe? Plasmius said something about taking care of me when I got lost when I was six."

"How odd, but as you must have returned home afterwards, it might have something to do with the unexpected results. Did Plasmius explain what he wanted from you?"

"He wanted me as his heir? I think?" Before he or Frostbite could say anything else, Danny felt something clench in his navel. Immediately afterwards, what seemed to be a flash of light momentarily blinded him. Terrified, he yelped and tried to move away. "What-what just happened?"

"This is what I have need to discuss with you." The ghost then rose and picked Danny off the bed before carefully setting him down in front of a mirror at the far end of the room.

It was the first time since he had come to this world that he had a chance to take stock of himself. However, the image looking back at him wasn't what he was expecting. His eyes weren't his usual blue but were instead an unnatural green. His skin had tanned, but the color somehow seemed unhealthy. His hair was now a silvery white instead of his black, and if he wasn't imaging it, he was emitting a slight glow. "What's wrong with me?" he asked in a horrified whisper.

Before he could get his answer, he felt the clench in his navel again. When the light subsided, he was greeted with the reflection of how he originally looked. Uncertain if his mind was playing tricks on him, he checked his hands and what he could of his bangs. Everything appeared normal.

"Usually," Frostbite started, which caused Danny to pause his examination and look at the ghost," when this world claims someone, they can no longer return to their human form. If they do, they often end up dead. You are somehow able to keep your human form, yet you produce a ghost form. In all my years, I have never seen such a thing."

"What exactly does that mean? What am I?"

"Unfortunately, I do no know. From what our tests showed, you have both a functioning human heart and a ghostly core, which is our equivalent of a heart. You've been switching back and forth between forms for some time."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Notes:

1) So… the Bigfoot mention. This is something that I've heard before. There are 2 major lines of thought regarding the famous cryptid. 1) Bigfoot is a flesh and blood creature, and 2) Bigfoot is an interdimensional, extraterrestrial, or spiritual entity (I seriously had a professor who believed Bigfoot could travel through dimensions. He even wrote papers about it). For this story, I'm going with the concept that people are catching brief glimpses of Frostbite and his people as they patrol areas known for spontaneous portal openings. (There's a 3rd idea where there are some flesh and blood ones, and some other things that take on the form of them)

Interdimensional aspects are popping up more and more when it comes to paranormal topics, and they're a major theory when it comes to unexplained disappearances and weird creatures. Personally, I find the concept intriguing, but it's not something that can currently be proven. Though… there are a lot of rumors about how CERN is trying to do that. I know that group is just supposed to be studying particles and quantum physics, but there are sooooo many weird rumors about CERN.

2) For this story, I'm borrowing the type of idea where a ghost can't be created unless its former vessel (body) is used as a medium. You see things like this for Revenants, Strigoi Mort (Romanian ghost/zombie/vampire thing), and Gjenganger (Scandinavian ghost/zombie thing similar to a Dragur), and others. For those stories, the only way to get rid of them is to damage/destroy the body in specific ways which vary from region to region.

3) human centrifuges are real things. They are used by to help test the effects of G-forces on people, and astronauts receive training to handle said forces in them. They do, at least used to have, a version of it at space camp.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Information is needed, but the afterlife is toxic to those still alive

“So, did Frostbite tell you that there are other people from our school here?”

Danny raised an eyebrow at Tucker’s question. His friends were working on catching him up to speed on what happened after he collapsed. It was fairly straightforward as they were taken to a different room to do a quick medical examination to make sure there were no injuries or signs of changes. Once Frostbite’s medics were satisfied, they were given warmer clothes as lands of the Far Frozen were similar to those of the article circle. According to the Far Frozen, the clothes were kept in case they needed to temporarily house any humans they found.

Unfortunately, the one aspect of hospitality the Far Frozen could not provide was food. Not only was it difficult for them to procure, it was also easy for it to get contaminated. As such, they did not want to risk providing Sam and Tucker any form of food in case it triggered a change in them. Luckily, Sam still has some granola with her which she shared with Tucker, who whined about there not being meat available for a good ten minutes.

“Yeah, apparently Dash, Paulina, and that group were all taken right around the same time we were,” Tucker continued. 

“Was it Plasmius?” Danny held his breath as he waited for the response.

“No, it was someone else,” Sam responded as she played with the hem of her jacket sleeve. “Frostbite said it was someone name Aragon or some of his followers. And as much as I don’t like them, I don’t think anyone should have been forced to deal with what they have.”

“Should I ask?”

Sam shook her head. “Frostbite won’t even let us go in the room while his medics work. They’re apparently really messed up, and at least one of them is missing part of their arm. As much as I hate to say it, we might have gotten lucky that it was Plasmius that found us.”

“That is a creepy thought, but I think Sam is right about that,” Tucker agreed. “Although Frostbite didn’t want to explain it to us, we got enough to know that they were targeted for their blood.”

An icy chill passed, which was worsened by the lights signaling his switching of forms, passed through Danny’s body as he tried to process what Tucker told him. If it bothered his friends, they hide it well. “What do you mean?”

“We’re not really sure. Plasmius said something about it too, but both him and Frostbite didn’t go into any detail. Sam said she thought she heard something about it?” He glanced towards the goth, who appeared to be deep in thought. 

“Yeah, I think there are old legends about it,” she eventually replied. “I can’t recall the story, and even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to tell you if there was any truth to it.”

Danny just nodded. “What about Mikey? We saw him get taken too, right?” When his friends wouldn’t meet his eyes, he grew concerned. “Guys? What happened?”

“Mikey… he… he didn’t make it,” Tucker admitted. “Some of Frostbite’s men did find him, but, that other ghost, Youngblood, already…”

“What about his body? His family should at least be able to bury him.”

“Danny… there isn’t a body.” Tucker’s voice trembled as he spoke. Although they hadn’t been close friends, Tucker still considered him one. “When he was found… they said he was now little more than a ghost designed to be another’s doll. There was no signs of emotion or personality.”

“Frostbite didn’t want to tell us that,” Sam continued, “but, we pestered one of the medics enough to let it slip. They said it was one of the worst fates a kidnapped human can endure.” 

“That… that’s really messed up.” Danny fell silent as he thought about Mikey’s family, and how they would never be able to get closure. With a jolt, he realized just how worried his own family had to be. They nearly lost him twice before, but now, he wasn’t even certain if he could return the third time.

With his body in a weird in between state, Frostbite had no idea whether or not he could return to the world of the living as ghosts could not remain there for long. There were so many questions. Would he remain like this? Would his human side eventually disappear? Did he still need to eat like a human? Could he still bleed? It was just as frightening as it was frustrating.

There had also been concerns whether or not he should be anywhere near his friends, but Tucker and Sam refused to remain separated from him. Although they were told the same thing Danny had been, they were being supportive of him. If his unintentional switching of forms was bothering them, they were hiding it very well. They also far more scared for him than by him which was extremely comforting.

A knock on the door was the only warning the three got before Frostbite reentered the room. “Good news,” he announced as he approached them, “we have gotten reports there will soon be a portal opening near where you were originally abducted. Sam, Tucker, you and your classmates will be able to return home.”

Excitement flashed across Tucker’s face for a moment before it fell. “But what about Danny?”

“Ah, until we can verify he can safely return to your world, he is more than welcome to remain here.” After the ghost glanced at Danny, he gave a reassuring smile. “However, we should find out soon. Before we even had a chance to contact our allies, we received a message from Master Clockwork.”

“Clockwork?” Danny and his friends questioned.

Frostbite nodded reverently. “Master Clockwork is an ancient and solitary ghost of great power. It has been many years since his last contact, so we were very surprised when he reached out to us.”

“So why now?” Skepticism colored Sam’s voice. “If it’s been that long, what’s so special about Danny’s situation to make him suddenly want to interact with others?”

“To be honest, I am unsure. While it is rare for him to contact others, we are uncertain if that is from his own desires or due to the Observants. Perhaps it is a combination of both.” Frostbite gave them a gentle smile. “Sam and Tucker, it is almost time for the portal to open. Please prepare your things.”

“No way! I’m not leaving here unless Danny’s with us!”

As much as he appreciated Sam’s declaration, he knew he needed to try to change her mind. “Thanks, Sam, but I think you and Tucker should go home while you have the chance.”

Although Tucker sent him an understanding smile, Sam just glared at him. “And just leave you here? The last time we were separated, something weird happened to you. I don’t want something to happen, and we never see you again.”

“Sam, can’t you tell Danny’s worried?” Tucker placed a hand on her shoulder. “Whatever happened to him, he doesn’t want to have happen to us.”

“Thanks for the translation, Tuck. I also want to know you’ll be far away from this place and safe,” Danny walked over to his friend and gave him a quick hug before he turned to Sam and placed a quick peck on her cheek. “I’ll find my way home. I promise. And, Sam? After this is all over, I’ll treat you to that new restaurant you’ve been eying.”

Sam’s lip quivered as she tried to keep her emotions in check. “Are you finally asking me out?” Even her voice shook. After Tucker agreed with him, her fight had disappeared. “If you bail, I’m going to hunt you down.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Frostbite then escorted his friends out of the room while allowed Danny to collapse back on the medical bed. If he was honest, he didn’t want to be alone, but it was too dangerous for his friends to stay by his side. He couldn’t keep them safe, and the longer they remained by his side in the world of the dead, the more chances the world had to alter them. 

Before Sam and Tucker were allowed in to see him, Frostbite explained the change could be caused by anything. Food and drink was the most common. It didn’t matter if it was offered by a friendly or malicious ghost or simply found by a wayward human as it was too different from what was found in the world of the living. Some ghosts could purposely trigger the change. Frostbite was hesitant to explain how, but it almost sounded like they passed on an illness or curse. To make matters worse, simply being around ghosts or in the world of the dead too long could also trigger it. 

He sighed as he waited for Frostbite to return. This world was toxic to humans, so he was it was him and not them staying behind. 

….

Sam remained silent during the journey with the Far Frozen. She and Tucker were sitting in the rear of what appeared to be some sort of large sleigh which was pulled by strange glowing creatures which vaguely resembled huskies. Two of Frostbite’s people were steering the sleigh while two more held on to the back and stood on the foot boards.

Across from her and Tucker sat an unconscious Kwan, Star, and Paulina. They did look terrible. All three had bandages and gauze on their faces, and bruises were forming on clear skin. Dash and the others were on a different sleigh which was following behind them. 

As much as she hated to admit it, she was glad she never encountered the same ghost as the A-listers. Sure, Plasmius was creepy and potentially dangerous, but he never outright harmed them. However, she did admit that seemed directly related to his desire to keep Danny.

She sighed as her thoughts flickered back to him. He still seemed like the same person when he waved goodbye to her and Tucker, but she was scared that wouldn’t be the case for much longer. No one knew whether or not Danny would stay like that, or if it was possible for his situation to worsen or reverse. If it worsened, did that mean he wouldn’t be Danny anymore?

Frostbite mentioned he had once been human, but he could barely remember how he used to be. And if she heard correctly while Plasmius was talking to himself, memories were sometimes affected during the process of becoming a ghost. If that happened, would he still remember them? Would he still have the same personality? Would he act more like the ghosts who hurt the A-listers? She kept trying to push away those fears and remain positive, but every time she remembered his inhumanly green eyes, they came back. 

Tucker tried to distract her by pointing out things on their journey. Even with everything, she had to admit the strange scenery was something else. The sky was still a strange mix of green and purple. There were floating islands in the distance and occasionally floating doors. If she looked downwards, there was some sort of ground and occasionally what appeared to be rivers and forests. However, she also sometimes caught sight of unsettling shadows which seemed to duck out of sight if she stared at them too long. 

After Tucker mentioned the shadows, the two tried to convince themselves the shadows were nothing of concern. However, that idea was quickly pushed aside when they caught sight of the yetis steering the sleigh pointing at some of them before conversing in hushed tones. Before Sam could make up her mind on whether or not to ask if they needed to be concerned, the sleigh violently served to the side.

“What the f…?” Before Sam could finish, a barrage of green lights rained down on their right. 

“Look!” Tucker pointed at something above them. “How much do you want to bet that they’re not friendly?”

She glanced up to see what appeared to be a black carriage drawn by black pegasi with flaming manes. There was a flaming figure standing on the driver’s seat brandishing a sword in one hand while firing the green light from the other. The sight would have been so wickedly cool if one of the yetis riding on their sleigh hadn’t have thrown up some sort of bluish shield. It took her a moment to realize it was ice. 

She wasn’t expecting the green lights to cause explosions when they hit the ice shield. After one blew a hole in the shield which allowed another to damage part of their sleigh, she and Tucker huddled together in the center. Somehow, the A-listers remained unconscious. “Must be nice,” she angrily muttered.

“Hang on, children!” one of the driving yetis told them as they directed the sleigh towards a nearby floating island which appeared to have a large forest on it. 

The landing was rough. The sleigh bounced a few times before it began sliding over the rocky terrain of the island as it headed towards the ghostly forest. The ride remained turbulent as the yetis dodged around trees and rocks. Green lights and explosions followed them. 

After several tense minutes, the sleigh finally came to a stop. Sam and Tucker shakily tried to stand, but the yetis told them to stay put and remain silent. Other than their breathing, Sam was unable to hear any other noise. Eventually, she whispered, “Tucker, do you see that?” as a strange green glow appeared deep within the forest. 

“Yeah… I really hope that’s nothing more than a ghostly firefly.” Tucker’s hope was quickly dashed as more lights began appearing, and as they drew closed, they almost looked like skeletons. 

“Brace yourselves!” one of the yetis suddenly yelled before the sleigh jolted forward. However, it never had a chance to move forward. Before Sam could figure out what happened, she and Tucker were picked up by one of the yetis, who then ran into the forest. The A-listers were grabbed by the others. Sam had just enough time to get a glimpse of an army of glowing skeletons overtaking the sleigh before the sight disappeared behind a tree. 

The yeti did not stop until the trees began to thin, and it wasn’t a gentle stop. The ghost basically skid to a stop before placing Sam and Tucker down and instructing them to stay behind him. Sam peaked around the ghost, to see the flaming figure from the carriage standing in front of them. It wore black armor.

The figure brandished its claymore at them. “Hand over the humans. My liege is in need of them.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regarding the Aragon reference: I was debating between him and Pandora, and ultimately choose him due to his status as a villain in the series. 

As previously mentioned, per Greek mythology, ghosts needed blood to regain their sense of self. Which is why she was considered. However, there is an old story in southeastern Europe that I almost forgot about until was trying to double check something and was reminded of it. It falls into the weird gray area between ghosts, zombies, and vampires seen a lot in that region for centuries. They have creatures which start out as shadows and then slowly gaining a proper form which resembled what they had in life as they consume blood over a 40 day period. Once they reach ‘maturity’, those creatures have bodies which resemble what they did when they were alive and no longer have to return to the grave at dawn. As such, my brain went, “I’m using that.” 

If you’re interested, I know one of the traditions translates them to “Howlers” or “Screamers” as they are known to pace an area during that 40 day period, kind of like weird listless zombies, and make strange noises. However, these tales do vary between countries and even villages so it may be difficult to find.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even the all-knowing can be tricked

Frostbite remained close lipped on their journey to Clockwork’s lair, at least in regards to the mysterious and ancient ghost. He instead talked to Danny about different aspects of ghosts and their realm. Although the yeti ghost wanted Danny to return home, he wanted Danny to know about the realm as a precaution, and Danny reluctantly agreed. 

As they passed by some of the floating islands, buildings, and doors, Frostbite would occasionally mention which of his allies or neutral acquaintances lived there. It was all so strange. There were buildings which looked like they were from ancient Greece or Rome, while there was another which looked like a modern library. Frostbite explained the form of the lair was heavily influenced by its ruler. A ghost needed to be a fairly strong to be able to create such a large lair, and while the architecture often reflected what the ghost knew while they were alive, it wasn’t a necessity. 

Eventually, a dark and imposing clock tower could be seen in the distance. “I guess that’s the place?” Danny questioned as he tried to get a better look at it. 

“It is. When we arrive, it is unlikely I will be able to go in with you.”

“Wait, what?” Danny hadn’t expected this would be a one on one meeting. From the way Frostbite spoke, he figured someone would be guarding him, at least until he had answers. 

The older ghost gave him a sheepish look. “The invitation was only for you. Unless Clockworks invites me in, I will do no more than ferry you to the location and wait for your return.”

“Is this Clockwork really so scary?”

“He is far more powerful than I am, so I have no desire to anger him. There are stories regarding how no foe has been able to sway or harm him.”

“So you’re just going to allow a teenager to go to meet a ridiculously powerful ghost by himself? That’s just great. What if he incinerates me or something?”

Frostbite just chuckled. “I do not think you have anything to fear, unless you try to attack him. Clockwork is not known for going out of his way to do damage to someone.”

“Great. That makes me feel so much better.” Danny’s sarcasm was lost on Frostbite. 

…

A short time later, Frostbite’s sleigh landed in front of the clock tower. Upon closer inspection, the building appeared to be made of a dark gray stone with large wooden doors. Thankfully, there was a small amount of land surrounding the building, so Danny wasn’t worried about falling to his death. After being coaxed out of the sleigh, Danny, feeling incredibly self-conscious, knocked on the door. 

The door opened, but he didn’t see anyone when he cautiously stepped inside. He half expected the door to slam behind him, but instead, it remained open until he started moving towards the only thing in the room, a stair case. Once he reached it, the door slowly closed on its own. 

While uneasy, he wasn’t exactly scared. Whoever this Clockwork was, he was at least somewhat courteous.

After reaching the top of the stairs, he found himself in a large room filled with gears, pendulums, and what appeared to be mirrors set within large gears. However, after a closer inspection, the mirrors showed shadowy images which didn’t appear to be him or anything in the room. 

“Do you see anything interesting?” a pleasant voice asked from somewhere behind him, making him jump. He sheepishly spun around to find a ghost with blue skin, red eyes, and a clock pendulum in his chest watching him. The ghost initially appeared maybe around thirty, but after a few moments shifted to appear much older. 

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have looked.” Danny wasn’t exactly certain why, but he felt almost as if he was being caught in the act by a favorite relative. There was something familiar and personable about this ghost, even when his form shifted again. This time, his appearance was childlike. 

The ghost chuckled as he approached. “It is quite alright. Most of my visitors have been drawn to them.” He gestured towards the closest one, and the images suddenly became more vivid. It was almost as if it was playing some sort of video. “As you have guessed, I am Clockwork, master of time. I am able to see all events which may or may not come to pass.” His form again shifted. 

“Err… Frostbite said you wanted to see me?” 

“Correct. Beings such as yourself have only shown up a handful of times over the millennia, and each time one does, it often brings great change.”

“But what am I? Am I dead? Am I alive?”

The ghost gave a gentle chuckle. “You are still very much alive. You’re just able to access the power of your soul, which is not usually feasible while one is still has a living body. However, this is not possible unless you are able to resist the pull of this realm.”

“What does that mean?” Although Danny was relieved to know he was classified as living, he was still deeply confused by everything. “Does it deal with what Frostbite explained regarding what could trigger the change?”

“Yes. This world is similar to the human concept of limbo. It is a place where some souls wander until they are lead to the Evermore – true death. But, it is still a world of the dead, and the living are not meant to be here. It has defenses to prevent the dead from crossing back into your world, which unfortunately can cause the wayward human to become a denizen.” 

“However, there is more to it than that,” Clockwork continued as he gestured to the mirror. Strange images flickered within it. “Over millennia, this realm became corrupted. The guides, beings unique to this realm, which used to help guide those wayward souls, are all but gone now. No longer being able to find true rest, souls that remain here often become tainted and become ghosts. Many can spread that taint as well, and some use that to create others like themselves.”

“You’re telling me that’s why my classmates were abducted?” A cold chill ran through him as his body decided to return to his human form. 

“Not in this case.” Clockwork gestured to the mirror as an image flickered to the first ghost Danny and his friends saw. After a moment, another ghostly figure who suspiciously resembled Mikey came into view. “In Youngblood’s case, whether or better or worse, wanted a companion more than anything else. This isn’t an isolated case. However, many abductors have a far more insidious reason.” The ghost turned to face him. “The living have an energy that the dead do not. It’s probably easiest to refer to it as vitality. Returning to your previous question, you still produce that energy so it is safe to say you are still alive.”

“Alright. So what makes that so appealing? Does it give, I don’t know, special abilities?”

“Some believe so. Others believe vitality will help them restore some of the memories commonly lost upon death.”

“That’s so messed up,” Danny replied after mulling over the information. “The memory loss thing, does that happen to everyone? Will it happen to me? Will I…?” He didn’t want to admit it out loud, but he was worried he might become a danger to his friends and family. 

The ghost, who was back in his child form, gave him a soft smile. “As long as you’re alive, you don’t need to worry. As for death, most souls do not come to this realm, but instead find their way to the Evermore. Also, as long as the soul is strong, it can avoid being tainted by this realm and become a force of good or of balance. Those which do have no need to seek out and harm the living.” It was impossible for Danny to hide the relief on his face, which made Clockwork chuckle. 

“Now let us move on to some of your other concerns. You want to know if you can return home and how you became like that, correct?” When Danny nodded, Clockwork again gestured to the mirrors. An image of a young Danny berry picking with his aunt and sister. The view changed to show a creature, some other ghost, peering at them from behind a tree. After Danny caught sight of it, his family members disappeared from the scene. “This is where your journey began. As you saw earlier, a distraction from this realm can accidently pull you into it.”

“What is that thing?” Danny felt uneasy as he watched the ghost beckon to his younger self which somehow triggered his body to switch forms again. There was something about the ghost which made him unsettled. It looked humanoid with dark skin, but did not have any facial features. “I don’t remember seeing it, but then again, I don’t remember much from that.”

Clockwork stared at the image for another moment before glancing at Danny. “Most of them no longer have names. We call them ‘Recruiters’, but it was believed they had been destroyed several centuries ago. They worked for the previous king.”

“Wait, king? You guys have a king? And what do you mean they were supposed to be destroyed?”

“We once did,” Clockwork replied as he shifted to his elderly form. “He waged war against this realm and yours, so he was sealed away. The members of his court, made mostly of purposely modified ghosts, were either destroyed or sealed. It appears someone has resurrected those modification techniques.”

Danny was about to ask another question when the images in the mirror caught his attention again. It showed the ghost, the Recruiter, examining him. It then handed him something which looked like some type of candy. After young Danny ate it, the Recruiter watched him for a while before attempting to grab him. When the attempt failed, young Danny tried to escape.

Images flashed as his younger self ran away from the Recruiter. Eventually, the boy collapsed outside of what appeared to be some sort of wall and began to cry as a faint glow started to surround him. As the Recruiter again appeared in the scene, it was blasted away by a strange beam. The boy looked up to see Plasmius staring curiously at him. 

“Wow… so Plasmius actually wasn’t lying when he said how he first met me.”

“For the most part, no,” Clockwork replied as he raised his staff, which caused the scene to shift to the inside of Plasmius’ mansion. The older ghost had given Danny more food and was watching him carefully. “Plasmius did accidently find you, but if he hadn’t provided you with more food from this realm, you may have been able to return home as a fairly normal human, albeit with form of minor psychic ability. However, he saw potential in you and became interested.”

The teenager was silent for a moment as he continued to watch the images. After Plasmius took him back to the human world, the scene shifted to show him a little older. With a jolt, he realized it was when he disappeared the second time. Instead of the Recruiter, it was Plasmius who beckoned him. The ghost didn’t do anything other than talk and play with his younger self. However, Danny was showing evidence of ghostly traits again. “He wanted to make sure he was right, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Plasmius has grand ambitions in this realm. He wants power and having someone like you at his side would be a great boon. However,” Clockwork froze the image and somehow zoomed into a spot in the background. There was a Recruiter watching them, “you were not alone. This is troubling.”

“You mentioned earlier you are able to see all possible events, didn’t you? So why do you seem so surprised?”

The ghost, still in his elderly form, wore a tenebrous expression. “While my abilities allow me to see any number of possibilities, it can be difficult to sort through the amount of information I receive. It is also possible, though unlikely, someone powerful was able to block them from my abilities. However, now that I am aware of the concern, it is much easier to locate similar events.” The ghost shifted to his child form. “I had wanted to send you home while you adjust to the changes in your body, but you may need trained first.”

Uncertain how to respond while the ghost took a few moments to think, Danny turned back to the mirror. It was no longer showing images of his past. Instead, it was flickering through a multitude of scenes at a blinding rate. For a second, he thought he saw Sam and Tucker, but the image changed before he could be certain. Some of the images seemed to show an army of some sort. Overall, it left him unsettled. 

“I believe I will need to let Frostbite into the Clock Tower,” Clockwork stated, making Danny jump. “I will need him to spread the word of my discovery, and he has information for both of us.”

Moments later, the white furred ghost hurried up the stairs with two of his guards. After taking a moment to collect himself, he bowed towards Clockwork. “I humbly thank you for allowing us into your presence.”

“There is no need for that. My abilities and agreement with the Observants force me to remain neutral under most circumstances. As such, I prefer to keep to myself, but sometimes when extraordinary people appear,” Clockwork gestured to Danny, “curiosity gets in the way. However, this time, I am glad it did.” The ghost brought their attention to the mirrors and showed the Yetis the image of the Recruiter. 

Frostbite’s shock was quickly replaced by rage. “Who would dare attempt to recreate such a vile creature? However, we have unsettling news of our own. The entourage who were escorting the other humans Danny knows home were attacked by the Fright Knight and a horde of Reanimated.” When the yeti caught sight of Danny’s horrified expression, he gave a small smile. “Fear not. Pandora herself stepped into assist my men and drove them back; not even the Fright Knight dares raise his blade to her. Your friends should be arriving home soon.” His attention turned back towards Clockwork. “Pandora explained one of her spies caught sight of them shortly before they attacked my men and took it upon herself to intervene. Her ambassadors will request an audience of the counsel within the day.”

“As much as I dislike dealing with the Observants, I believe this is necessary,” Clockwork agreed. “Whoever is employing the techniques of the old king has been able to exploit the blind spots in my abilities. It also seems as if they are aware of Daniel and what his existence means. They may also be watching Plasmius.”

“This is most troubling.”

“Uh, excuse me, but I have no idea what’s going on here,” Danny interrupted. The conversation had lost him some time ago, but he was relieved to hear his friends were safe.

Frostbite gave him a sheepish smile as Clockwork explained, “It appears someone is trying to make a grab for power. The last time this happened, war overtook this realm and spilled into yours.”

“That… that doesn’t sound good.”

“No. Last time, it was only through the power of the Ancients that we were able to defeat the King. If someone has found a way to access his abilities, then it needs to be stopped before catastrophe happens.” The yeti’s expression was grim as he addressed Clockwork. “So what becomes of Danny? Will he need to remain with us, or can he travel home? Is it even safe for someone like him to return to the human realm?”

“As he is still alive, there is no harm in him returning him. His parents are working on several projects, one of which will provide his home with enough ambient energy to allow his core to remain stable. However, the more I attempt to peer into the future, the more muddled the images become. There is definitely interference. So, I am uncertain what route will allow the most favorable outcome.” He shifted to his adult form. “So, Daniel, I leave the choice to you.”

“You said that whoever attacked my friends know about me?”

The time ghost nodded. “Yes. Since you can traverse both worlds without ill effects, your abilities would be of great interest. You could remain here and train with Frostbite…”

“But I would not be able to guarantee your safety as today proved,” the Yeti admitted.

“There is also a concern the Observant and the Counsel will not approve of your existence,” Clockwork continued. “You could return home, but you would be forced to develop your abilities on your own. However, you would be much safer there for the time being.”

Danny looked down at his hands and momentarily stared at the faint glow surrounding them. “Am I a danger to my family and friends if I go home?”

“No, but it is possible to make them more open to this world. If we are unable to prevent our enemies from gaining power, it may cause them to be targeted again.”

“Is it okay if I take some time to think about it?”

“Of course. Take all of the time you need.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: The Evermore is something within DP lore. It was mentioned in a video Butch Hartman released which expanded upon more information regarding the different residents. 

Clockwork’s mention of limbo and soul guides. So, limbo is probably better known to some Christian religions (particularly Catholics) than most other people. There is a similar concept in Greek mythology which was referred to as the Asphodel Fields/Meadows. This is a place in between life and Heaven/Hell. In previous Catholic tradition, Limbo is the place where unbaptized souls go upon death, and there were circumstances which could help those souls find rest (the Catholic Church modified its views on Limbo in 2007). Some people say Limbo is also the realm of the fairies, elves, and any creature/entity which lives in another realm that is not heaven or hell. 

And for completion sake, Purgatory is not the same as Limbo. Purgatory (also per Catholic tradition) is a place of fiery cleansing after death. It’s a temporary stop. Once the soul has been cleansed, it moves onto Heaven. Purgatory is also not Hell. While it is not mentioned much, Purgatory is still considered to exist. 

Soul guides, also called psychopomps, are creatures responsible for guiding the deceased souls to the afterlife. The belief in them is ancient. Depending on tradition, they can be anything or look like anything. There’s even some thought that certain entities known to spirit away people, faeries come to mind, may have derived from this concept. A great representation of this are the Alebrijes found in Mexican traditions (they were recently featured in the movie “Coco.”)

The Recruiters are kind of based of off “Shadow People” mixed in with other legends like the “Tall Man” spirit seen in some First Nation lore. Shadow People are a weird phenomenon, even for the paranormal. True Shadow People are not usually considered to be ghosts, but something else. The interdimensional theory often pops up with them because they don’t seem to act like “normal ghosts” and are usually considered dangerous. They are reported to negatively influence and harm humans. There are some reports of them attempting to steal people. I used these descriptions due to some supposed reports from missing and found children saying creatures of similar descriptions wanted to take them with them, but they didn’t meet the correct criteria.

Also, regarding Clockwork’s powers… per the show, he “knows everything.” However, it would very difficult of an entity to be able to take and absorb all of the information he gets at a time. So, my mind is viewing it as if he’s skimming the majority of the information, which could allow events in the background to get missed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath

The return home was nothing but a blur. Sam’s mind couldn’t make much sense of anything until she focused on flashing lights in the darkness. Panic gripped her as the possibility those skeleton creatures followed them, but voices soon filtered through the dark trees. She called out to them in a raspy voice. At first, she thought her voice was too faint to reach them, but someone heard her. 

One of the rangers came into focus as he approached her. After flashing his light over the area, he tried asking her something. His question didn’t make much sense to her, so she attempted to tell him she was okay, but the others might be hurt. Her vision swam as the ranger contacted someone on his walkie-talkie. The last thing she heard before blackness took her was the ranger trying to keep her conscious.

…

She woke up to find herself staring at a pale gray ceiling. Confused, she turned her head to get a better idea of where she was. The white walls, a single chair where Tucker was sleeping, and an IV which was attached to her clued her in that she was in a hospital. Why was she in a hospital? After glancing at Tucker again, she determined the better question was why was Tucker in the hospital? He hated them.

He roused himself after a few moments. “Hey, you’re awake!” After allowing himself a moment to stretch, he moved to her side. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Her throat felt like sandpaper. “How’d I get here? Where is everyone else? Where’s Danny?”

“I was told the Rangers called in ambulances after we were found. We and the A-listers were taken here. We were actually the least injured – just some scrapes and bruises. The doctors said you also had a bad bump on the head. Some of the A-listers are in critical condition, but they should make it.” He glanced around before leaning closer so he could whisper, “When I was released earlier, my parents told me Danny had been found and taken here, but they’re not allowing visitors. He’s being questioned by the police because he was found in a different location hours after us and relatively unharmed. Mom said the doctors seem worried about his vitals.”

“But he didn’t do anything!” She tried to sit up only to have Tucker gently stop her.

“Hey, the only way your parents let me in here was if I promised to make sure you didn’t get up if they weren’t in the room. I’m not pushing my luck after everything else that happened.” Once he was certain she was done trying to move, he went back to the chair and wrung his hands. “Trust me. I know he didn’t have anything to do with what happened, but it looks weird to the cops that he wasn’t found with us.”

Sam wanted to argue with him just so she could vent. Danny didn’t deserve that suspicion. He was probably most affected by what happened. Remembering him in that ghostly form, she hoped he would be okay being in the world of the living. He was back there with them, so she guessed he would be okay. 

She tried to question Tucker for more information, but her parents interrupted them. After a boisterous show of relief from her mother, her dad had enough tact to politely ask Tucker to give them time with their daughter. She glared at Tucker’s betrayal as he gave a half-hearted salute before he exited leaving her to try to block out her mother’s piercing voice.

….

After a barrage of tests the next morning, the doctors were confident she could be released. However, her parents wanted them to keep her for another night as a precaution. Since the doctors gave her a clean bill of health, the police came in to take a statement from her. She told them what she felt she could – that someone who called himself Youngblood killed Lester and took Mikey, and after she and her friends got separated from the others, were hunted down by someone called Plasmius. While the police seemed skeptical, they did admit her story matched up with her friends and what they could get out of Dash and Lucas. 

Her annoyance at the police lessened when Tucker brought her news they were allowed to go see Danny. Her nurse was fine with it as long as she returned to her room after a couple hours.

Danny’s room was on a different floor so it took them a few minutes to get there. After knocking and entering, they found Danny sitting up on his bed and chatting with his sister. After greeting them, Jazz excused herself after giving him a searching look.

“What was that about?” Tucker questioned as he glanced back towards where Jazz disappeared.

“You know her and her psychobabble. She’s convinced I’m traumatized need to talk to someone.” Danny’s tone seemed light, but there was a notable frown on his face. “I can tell she knows I’m withholding information.”

“I think the police also think that. The cop I talked to earlier seemed upset I didn’t give him more information,” Sam admitted before she moved forward to give him a quick hug. “How are you doing considering…?” She gestured vaguely to his body. “You still owe me a date, you know.”

A chuckle escaped him. “I know I do, but they need to let me out of here first. Then we can play it by ear.” He brought his hand to his chest. “Some of my vitals are wonky because of… what happened, so the doctors want to observe me for a while still.” His eyes grew distant as he continued, “Overall, I think I’m okay, but this place makes me so uncomfortable. There is so much emotion, and… I think they’re remnants of people who died. They might be ghosts, but they seem so wispy compared to what we saw. Clockwork told me that place corrupted ghosts over time, so maybe that’s what it is. The ghosts here aren’t corrupted.”

“Dude, I feel you about hospitals being creepy. The only reason I’m here is to visit you two,” Tucker admitted as he removed his hat and wrung it. “But what do you mean by emotion?”

There was a green tinge to Danny’s eyes as he glanced at them. “I can feel… maybe taste… the fear and grief in this place. I don’t like it.”

After sharing a concerned look with Tucker, Sam gently patted Danny’s shoulder. “There are old stories that say ghosts seem to respond to strong emotions. Maybe that’s what it is.”

“Maybe.” His reply was half-hearted. 

“So, how exactly did you get back? And how did the visit with Clockwork go?” Tucker questioned as he sat on the only chair in the room, leaving Sam to rest on the end of his bed. 

“Frostbite brought me back after we got the report that you were attacked, he led me to a different portal as the one you went through already closed.” His head tilted as he thought about it. “Clockwork was very unsettled by the events. He’s the ghost of time, by the way, and I don’t think I ever want his job.” After catching their confused stares, Danny launched into a hushed explanation of what Clockwork told him.

“You’re telling me the ghost of time missed seeing that weird thing?” It was Tucker who finally broke the stunned silence after Danny finished. “He’s not very good at his job, is he?”

Danny shook his head. “I don’t think it’s Clockwork’s fault. From what I caught, it seems what or whoever is employing those things, they are able to move in his blind spots.”

“You said something about how those things are looking to steal kids. Do you think we have to worry about them?” Although Sam wasn’t too worried about herself, she did have small cousins that while they were brats, she had no desire to see them harmed.

“I’m not sure. I wasn’t given too much information about them, and I don’t exactly have a way to try to find a way to find out either.”

“Hmm… When my parents finally allow me out of here, I’ll go through my collection of folklore and mythology. I know it’s a long shot, but maybe there’s a mention of something like what you described.”

“Oooh! That’s a good idea. Why didn’t I think of that?” Tucker smacked himself on the head as he brought out his PDA. After a few quick button pushes, he held it up. “I now have a program running to see if there are any recent reports of those things? It might take a bit of filtering to get around CreepyPastas, but I think it’ll work.”

Danny gave them a trembling smile. “Thanks guys.”

Their conversation soon drifted to more mundane things like school and imagining Sam’s parents going on a rampage against the school district. Their conversation came to an end after Danny’s parents entered the room, a little more excited than normal. They clearly wanted to discuss something in private, so Sam and Tucker excused themselves. Tucker then walked Sam back to her room, where her nurse was waiting for them.

xxxxxx

The next day, Danny was release from the hospital under strict orders he needed to be carefully monitored. His temperature and blood pressure were still on the low side, but he seemed to be healthy. Uncertain whether or not that was his new baseline, they figured his parents would return him to the hospital if he took a turn for the worst. So, he would be allowed to stay home from school for about a week.

If he was honest, he didn’t think he parents would be too motivated to keep an eye on him as they had a new toy to keep their attention. While he, his friends, and classmates were lost in the world of the dead, his parents managed to punch open a hole into that very place with an invention they had been working on for decades. Most of their waking moments were spent hovering around it and taking measurements. 

He didn’t understand why they would make such a thing. Its energy infected everything in the house. He doubted his parents or sister were able to feel it unless they stood in front of it, but that energy thrummed in his very core. It wasn’t exactly a comforting feeling, but it seemed to calm the constant fighting between his human and ghostly forms. He supposed he should be at least thankful for that as it helped prevent slip ups around his family.

That had been the most nerve wracking aspect of his changes. His energy often surged without warning which triggered some sort of ghostly ability that both Frostbite and Clockwork neglected to mention to him. His body parts liked to inappropriately pass through solid objects or disappear for a few minutes at a time. It often went away after a few frantic moments of trying to fix the problem. He had yet to tell his friends about it.

For the most part, he kept to himself and in his room while he was under this surveillance period. However, he still had bodily needs. So, he would venture to the kitchen for snacks.

A couple hours after dinner, he went downstairs for one such snack. He found his sister in the living room watching breaking news regarding a disappearance of a teen. As he listened to the reporter, a strange chill ran through him. That chill worsened after they showed a photo of the girl – she was an underclassman at his school.

“How long have you been standing there?” Jazz demanded after she realized he was there. Had he really been that quiet?

“Long enough. What exactly happened to her?” He moved to sit down on the couch with her.

“After what just happened to you, I don’t think you should listen.”

He rolled his eyes. “Jazz, I’m fine. Besides, I already heard enough to know she went missing around the same time me and my classmates did.”

Jazz narrowed her eyes as she seemingly examined him for some unknown sign. When she didn’t find it, she sighed and caught him up. “She and her family went on a normal hike on a short trail outside the city. When she didn’t come back at the designated time, a search party went looking for her. She was found unharmed near a bend the creek that follows that trail.” She paused as she scratched her head. “It doesn’t seem too unusual, but something her parents said in an interview is bugging me. They said she seemed like an entirely different person after she was found. I’m trying to get more information to see if I have any information that might be able to help them.”

“You probably shouldn’t stick your nose in it.”

The expression she shot him went from offended to sheepish as she backtracked. “Well… I wasn’t going to directly get involved. I was just going to send a message to their doctors if I could find a psychological change that could help with their prognoses. I wonder if they’d let me do a case study on her for my class.” Jazz had received special permission to return home for a couple weeks to make sure Danny was fine. However, true to form, she had promised to work on any potential projects due the time period. 

“Jazz… I’m serious. You shouldn’t get involved.” When Jazz looked like she was going to argue with him, he gave her the most intense glare he could muster. “You have no idea what might have happened to her. Getting involved when you shouldn’t, might make it worse, or you might get yourself involved in something you’ll end up regretting.”

She floundered as she tried to find her words. If he didn’t know any better, she almost seemed afraid. “I don’t understand you,” she eventually told him. “You’ve never taken such an interest in any of my previous projects.”

Danny just rubbed his temples. Jazz didn’t tend to back down from anything unless she had a sound argument. “Jazz, I’m telling you, there’s something wrong here. Don’t approach her.”

“Are you implying that her temporary disappearance has something to do with what happened to you and your classmates?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but call it a gut feeling.”

She gently patted his shoulder. “I know what this is about.”

“You do?”

She gave him a pitying look. “Because your situations are so similar, you’re projecting your fears and experience on to her.”

“What? That’s not it at all!”

“You just keep telling yourself that, little brother.” With that phrase, she effectively dismissed anything else he had to say. 

Still unsettled, Danny excused himself and went back to his room to see if he could find any more information as to what happened to the underclassman and to alert Sam and Tucker to the information. While he was able to get little more than the information he heard on the news report, the feeling something else was wrong wouldn’t leave him.


	12. Chapter 12

After he was cleared to return to school, he found the media waiting for him. Somehow, Danny’s parents managed to keep them away from the house. Actually, that wasn’t too surprising as his dad did have a bad habit of accidentally attacking people who paid unplanned visits to the house. The mental image of a particularly annoying reporter with too much perfume covered in the green goop from one of his parents’ inventions was rather pleasing.  
Following the events at the campgrounds, the school was closed for a week while the police conducted interviews with the staff and school board The information he got from Sam, whose parents were among those interviewed, suggested the police wanted to verify those involved with the school had nothing to do with what happened. However, a rumor circulated that the staff knew about the original missing person investigation prior to the trip, which prompted the school to release a statement where the park and its employees for the tragedy. That didn’t sit well with the general populace, who began regular protests in front of the school. 

Once the school re-opened, the reporters began targeting students for interviews they couldn’t get with the school’s staff. Since most of the students were minors, the police got involved to prevent any potential legal issues. However, their presence did not stop the reporters from trying. Each time one of the students involved in the “mass abduction,” as it was being called, returned to the school, the reporters renewed their attempts.

After successful dodging the reporters, Danny made his way to his locker. Unlike the countless times he previously made the trip, this particular time was different. The tension in the air was palpable as the other students stared at him as he passed. 

His friends met him at his locker. When he mentioned the stares, Tucker gave an awkward chuckle. “About that, word got out that you were found hours after the rest of us. There are a lot of rumors about what you might or might not have seen and why you weren’t as injured as the A-listers.”

“Speaking of the the A-listers, which ones are back?” Danny questioned as he grabbed his books. Other than the general aftermath, he didn’t know too much regarding what happened to the other abductees.

“All but Star are back. She lost part of her arm, so she’s in physical therapy. I overheard the queen bee saying something about how Star might end up being transferred,” Sam answered as she kept an eye on some of the students staring at them. 

He nodded. “That’s more than understandable.” The noticeable tension gave way to what he could only describer as an overwhelming wrongness.

His friends grabbed his arms to stabilize him. “Dude, what’s wrong? Is it related to your… you know?” Tucker’s voice momentarily seemed distant, and it took Danny a great deal of focus to concentrate on it. “Are you sure you should have returned today?”

“It’s okay… it’s just…”

“FENTON!” The sound of Dash’s voice rang through the hallway. Danny had little time to react before the jock suddenly appeared in his line of sight and pinned him to the lockers. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back. You better have an explanation for what happened that day!” Anger radiated off Dash in waves.

“What is your problem?” He still didn’t understand how he became so sensitive to emotions, but they seemed to affect what Frostbite called his core. “If you forgot, you ran off and left us!”

“Are you telling me that you didn’t see that thing? You didn’t see what hurt Star? You better not be lying to me. You’re the one who gave us that weird warning before everything happened!”

“Get off me,” he snapped as he pushed Dash away. “Regarding what happened to you and your friends, I only know what I was told when I was in the hospital. We,” he gestured to his friends as his chest suddenly seemed to freeze, “never saw you guys after you ran off. So, whatever you saw, we certainly didn’t see it.”

“Don’t play dumb with me. Don’t your crackpot parents study this type of stuff?”

Before he could reply, the cold sensation gripped his chest again as the wrongness from earlier returned. The girl who was on the new the other night walked by and momentarily locked eyes with him. His entire body screamed danger, and his core tried activating in defense. It took all of his willpower to squash it down. The girl just gave him a haughty smile and continued on her way.

“Well, aren’t you going to say something?” Dash’s voice brought him back to the situation at hand.

“My parents aren’t crackpots. If you want information from them, go ask them yourself. Good luck at understanding their explanations though. Come on, guys.”

“Are you calling me stupid, Fenton? Cuz if you are…”

“Dash, even I can barely understand some of their theories, and I grew up exposed to that stuff.” That seemed to somewhat diffuse the jock’s anger as he simply growled and sulked away. After nodding in satisfaction, he caught the stunned looks of his friends. “What?”

“Well, at least we know one good thing that happened from our little romp in the woods, you grew a backbone.” Sam’s satisfied smirk caught him off guard. Was she preening? However, her eyes narrowed as her gaze drifted towards where the underclassman disappeared. “But what was that about? You looked like you were going to have a fit when that girl walked by?”

“You noticed that too? I thought I was imaging things,” Tucker added as warning bell rang.

“Remind me to tell you at lunch. I’m not sure if it’s something others should hear.”

….

A few hours later, Danny and his friends found themselves huddled at one of the lunch tables at the far end of the cafeteria. While his friends took a few bites of their meals, he scanned the area to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them. His eyes eventually fell on the girl from earlier. 

She seemed normal enough, especially since she was sitting next to Paulina. They wouldn’t have let her anywhere near them if they thought she was odd. However, even though her hair and clothing seemed immaculate, there was something stiff and unnatural in her posture. It was almost as if she was trying too hard to sit normally.

“Alright Danny, spill it.” Tucker’s voice made him jump. Glancing back at his friends, he realized they were both impatiently staring at him. “What happened earlier?”

“Let me ask this first: what do you know about that girl?” He gestured towards where she sat.

“Oh, you mean Maura?” Sam’s voice was full of spite. “She’s been trying to suck up to Paulina over the last two years. Apparently, she managed to get into Queen Bee’s good graces enough to be acknowledged as her unofficial successor. She’s just as mean and shallow as the rest of them. Why?”

“Because, according to the news, she went missing on a local trail around the same time we went missing in the forest. Eww! Tucker!”

Tucker’s apology for sitting out his drink was short as he brought out his PDA. After a few quick taps, he brandished it in front of him. After Sam snatched it from him, she and Danny discovered he brought up the article that matched the new report Danny saw. “Dude, that’s really weird.”

“I’d have to agree.” After Sam glanced at the article, she glanced towards the girl. “They found her in a dazed state but uninjured?”

“What was she even doing other there anyways?”

“With your attempts to hit on most of the girls in the school, I’m surprised you didn’t know.” Sam raised a questioning eyebrow towards Tucker. “She’s a member of the cross country team. From what I’ve overheard, it’s fairly normal for her to train on the trails around the area.”

“Oh, I forgot about that.”

“Do you know anything else about her? What?” Danny hadn’t expected Sam to scowl at him. “Look, I get you don’t like her, but the news said something about how her parents said she felt off to them. And when we made eye contact earlier, it was like my entire being screamed something was very wrong and very dangerous.” He glanced in Maura’s direction again. “Look at the way she’s sitting. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Danny, did you ever think it was possibly less supernatural?” A sigh escaped Sam when he just raised an eyebrow. “She honestly could have just seen something she shouldn’t have. I mean, it’s not weird for drug dealers, cultists, and other people who don’t want to be seen do their business in the woods.” After glancing back over towards Maura, a deep frown crossed Sam’s face. “It is weird that it happened the same day though.”

“Hmm… maybe. I mean, it did happen the same day. Can we just keep an eye on her, just to be safe?”

“I’m cool with it.” Tucker adjusted his glasses before glancing back at the A-listers. 

“Of course you would be.” Sam shook her head in disapproval before turning back to Danny. “I think you’re being paranoid, but I’ll let you know if I see or hear anything weird.”

“I appreciate it.” While he knew his friends were humoring him, Danny couldn’t help but feel somewhat relieved. After a moment, a memory from the morning came to mind. “Hey, did either of you see a lot of police this morning? There were a bunch a few blocks away from my house.”

Instead of immediately replying, Tucker paled as he quickly checked something on his PDA. “Damn it, there was another one.”

“Another what?” Both Sam and Danny echoed as Tucker shoved the PDA into Danny’s hand. A brief glance showed the article was about a recent death in Amity Park. 

Before Danny had a chance to read more, Tucker launched into a hushed explanation. “You guys know my mom works for the 911 call center, right? Well, she said something about there being a lot of weird deaths recently.”

“Weird how? Like normal weird, as in ‘person’s weird hobby got them’? Or strange weird as in ‘that’s effed up’?”

“Like ‘that’s effed up’. Sam, you need to stop laying off the true crime shows if you’re make distinctions like that. Anyways,” the techno-geek leaned in as he lowered his voice again, “when my mom asked a police officer friend about it, he stated that they think there might be a serial killer.”

“A what?” Danny felt the blood run from his face. Did Tucker really just say what he thought he did?

“Dude, keep your voice down! But yeah, that’s what they’re thinking because the victims all have something important ‘missing from their person’.” 

An uneasy sensation pooled at the bottom of Danny’s stomach. “What exactly is missing?”

A frown crossed Tucker’s face before he responded. “You know, I’m not really sure. Mom doesn’t want to say anything about it. I just chalked it up to the police not wanting to spread information on what they have.”

“But you’d think if it was something as simple as a personal item, they’d could at least specify that,” Sam mentioned. After glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, she continued. “That makes me worried there’s something more sinister going on.”

“You’re the true crime expert. How common is that?”

“It’s extremely common for killers to take souvenirs, but it’s insanely rare for them to… err… take part of a body.” Her voice pitched in discomfort as she spoke. 

“And on that note, I think I’ve lost my appetite.”

Sam grabbed his arm as he went to stand. “Come on, Danny. That’s most likely not what’s happening here.”

“With everything else we’ve recently dealt with and learned, that’s not something I want to hear. Do you remember what Frostbite told us? Do you remember what you said Plasmius talked about? I don’t want to get paranoid for no reason.” With that, he gathered his items and walked off. 

….

As the week came to a close, Danny noted it almost seemed the entire town was on edge. People on the streets spoke in quiet whispers about what the police were doing. His fellow students tended to go straight home after school instead of hanging out in the normal spots. Even the animals seemed on edge. Several times he caught dogs whimpering if their owners stopped for any reason. 

His parents’ research did little to help his unease. Their scanners signaled several times that week. According to his mother, they were detecting electrical abnormalities, but the abnormalities only seemed to last for a few minutes. His parents were concerned about the sudden spike in them and were doing all they could to attempt to find some sort of explanation. People also started calling around the times of the spikes reporting sightings of odd shadows. 

To make matters worse, he was having trouble falling asleep. Normally, he’d chalk it up to insomnia, but his body didn’t seem to feel tired in the morning after only three or four hours. It was as if the normal amount of sleep was just not needed. While he wasn’t certain if it was a weird side effect of his ghostly affliction, Sam’s mention of ghosts drawing energy from strong emotions often came to mind. He hoped that wasn’t the case, but he couldn’t outright dismiss it.

Around eleven in the morning on Saturday, he received a text from Tucker. It simply said he had some important information for him and Sam, and that he wanted them to meet up. Sam immediately offered her home as her parents were out of town for the weekend. After sending his reply, Danny got ready and headed out. 

Normally, it only took ten to fifteen minutes on his electric scooter to reach Sam’s, but he decided to take a slightly longer route to give himself a little longer to clear his thoughts. Rounding a corner to go through a commonly used alleyway, he came to a screeching stop as a cold chill and the feeling of wrongness overcame his body. Clutching his chest, his breath misted in front of him as he glanced around the alley. 

Nothing seemed off, but the feeling refused to go away. Unnerved, he decided he needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. However, when he rounded the corner that would allow him to pass behind some of the buildings he found something he was unable to register what was in front of him.

His mind eventually processed the sound of dripping and an angry hiss, and almost like fog lifting from his eyes, he finally made sense of the scene. Someone was lying on the ground. Blood completely covered his chest and must have come from the large wound in the center of it. Danny was almost certain the man wasn’t breathing. 

Something stood almost protectively over the body. It was mostly humanoid, but the sickly gray of its skin and skeletal frame showed it certainly wasn’t human. Black eyes seemed to glow in hatred. Something red and dripping blood rested in its hand. 

Danny backed away in fear. He had no idea what the thing was, but he knew it was dangerous. To make matters worse, it knew he was there. Slowly, he decided to back away from it. At first, it seemed like it was fine with his retreat, but after sticking whatever it was holding inside its own chest, it dropped its hands to the grounds and walked forward on its knuckles. 

Not knowing what else to do, Danny ran. As soon as he turned his back, the thing bolted after him. He barely made it halfway back through the alley before the thing was on top of him. As it tried to attack, he managed to knock it aside. The thing growled before lunging again. It was too close for him to attempt to escape, so he help up his hands and braced himself. 

But no attack ever came. Instead, the thing bounced off of a translucent green wall with a sickening splat. After a few dazed steps and a shake of the head, it hissed while appraised whether or not it could get to him. It hesitantly touched the wall, only to pull back its hand with a yelp of pain. After baring its teeth, it stepped backwards. As it moved, its body jerked, cracked, and popped as it slowly morphed into what appeared to be an old woman. 

As it disappeared around the corner, Danny’s knees gave way, and the strange green wall disappeared. He just stared in the direction where the thing disappeared as his mind tried to process exactly what just happened. It wasn’t until his phone buzzed, that he clambered to his feet and ran out of the alley. His fingers shook as he called the police. 

....

The police and paramedics arrived in less than ten minutes. As the police examined the scene, the paramedics treated Danny for mild shock. While he sat on the rear step of the ambulance, he watched the police did their job. 

Most of the officers wore grim expressions. Some whispered to each other. One of the younger ones had to excuse himself as he felt sick from the sight of the victim. Eventually, one of the older officers approached him for a statement.

Danny tried to be as truthful as possible. He described the creature as a thin and sickly looking person. After some internal debates, he finished by explaining it looked different as it moved away.

“Son, what do you mean?” There was a deep edge in the officer’s voice. “You better not be messing with me.”

“I… I really don’t know. Maybe it… he had one of those creepy realistic masks or something, but I’m telling you, he looked different right before it disappeared.”

The officer frowned as he stared at Danny. “I don’t think you’re lying, but shock sometimes warps what we think we see. Next week we’ll call you to the station to make an official statement.” He sighed before continuing. “We’ve contacted your parents. One of my juniors will take you home. Take it easy for the rest of the weekend, you hear me?”

After another fifteen minutes, Danny found himself in the front seat of a cruiser. Neither Danny nor the officer spoke for the entirety of the ride, and soon, they were in front of Fenton Works. After telling Danny to stay safe, the officer left him to be swept into the arms of his mother. 

His mother was understandably scared. The officer who called the house told her there was an incident and that he was okay, but due to the investigation, he was unable to give any details. After letting her have a few tears of relief, he asked if they could go inside. Maddie ushered him into the house.

His father and friends were waiting for him in the living room. Sam rushed over to him to pull him into a hug while his dad and Tucker shared a smirk. His mother excused herself to go get everyone hot chocolate and cookies. Once she returned, Danny told them what happened. Unlike with the officers, the only detail he left out was the green wall. 

He knew his friends would ask why he was so open with his parents, but without knowing exactly what he saw, he figured the two paranormal experts would be the best source for information. And, he wasn’t disappointed. 

“Sweetie, you know it was probably a person, but your father and I will do some digging,” his mother promised. “You described something that sounds too much like some of the legends in Native American folklore. And with all of the abnormalities we’ve been detecting recently, I don’t want to be foolish enough to rule it out.”

“Don’t worry, Dann-o.” His father’s grin was infectious. “We’ll find those spooks and take care of them for you. To the lab.” 

As the behemoth of a man disappeared down the stairs to the lab, his mother just fondly shook her head. “Get some rest. Sam, Tucker, let me take you home. I don’t think your parents would be too happy with me if I didn’t.”

“Thanks Mrs. F. I appreciate it. Can I take some cookies home? My mom loves your snickerdoodles.”

“Sure, let me go get a container for you.”

When she disappeared into the kitchen, Danny leaned forward and whispered. “Thanks for the distraction, Tuck. Guys, one other thing did happen. I… I think one of my abilities activated. I’ll call you guys later with the details. It’s probably the only reason that thing didn’t kill me.”

Before either of his friends could reply, his mother returned to the room carrying a container full of cookies. “Alright you two, let’s get going.”

Once he was left alone in the living room, Danny decided it was the perfect time to get a shower. After everything that happened, it would help him sort through his thoughts. He hoped his parents were right. Maybe it was just a strange looking man, but the wrongness of what he saw and the thing’s transformation told him otherwise. 

\---------------------------------------------------

Notes:  
I’m not sure how familiar people will be with it, but Cross Country Running is a type of long distance running, and at least in the US, it’s a Fall sport. However, it’s not on a track or indoors. Runners are usually on fields, trails, the in woods, etc., depending on the area. If you’re in the Allegheny plateau, it’s common to see the trails involve hills and/or some type of wooded area. 

The creature is based off of a story (which I still can't find again) was submitted to a YouTuber channel that goes by “Darkness Prevails.” The channel tends to read a lot of accounts submitted to it. And while the stories cannot be verified under most circumstances, all stories are claimed true by the submitters. 

The story that heavily inspired it is from a narrator who explained that her dad barred her from seeing a family friend (who she viewed as an uncle) after something that happened after a camping trip. She ended up encountering the family friend a couple years later and was invited to his home. The house was unkempt and stunk, and there seemed to be a strange substance everywhere. The friend and his wife were both acting strangely. After being lured to the kitchen, the friend tried attacking her, and she managed to escape and called the police. She was told her uncle had seemingly up and left a few years prior. After questioning father ended up explaining that when he and his friend were gathering firewood on that trip, they were chased by something that sounded like a pack of coyotes or wolves. The friend fell when they were running back to camp, and the dad lost sight of him. When the dad got back to camp, he tried to get his wife and the friend’s wife to call for help. However, they heard the friend call from the forest, and the friend's wife went to help him. When they returned, they seemed off. They spoke strangely and walked stiffly. Normal tasks seemed to baffle them. The dad didn’t know what happened to his friend and his wife, but he was convinced that what was left was something impersonating them. 

Stories like this pop up in folklore, and there are a lot of online stories telling of similar encounters. However, it is difficult to tell what’s a true account and what might be a “Creepypasta.” There is a rather famous folklore entity in First Nation stories in the Southwest US that is sometimes said to wear others skins. The most famous stories are from the Navajo, but other tribes also have them in their folklore. However, there is also a spirit called Kanaima from the Carib tribes that is somewhat similar. Some renditions of Wendigos (traditionally Algonquin) also put them in this category. A Kee-wakw (Abenaki) might also fall into this. 

And then I managed to combine the story with some of the information I know about the entity known as a Raven Mocker (from Cherokee lore). It’s another rather unsettling creature, and some accounts have it change shapes.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unplanned meeting and new discoveries

After his mother made sure he ate something light, Danny escaped to his bedroom and set up a video chat with his friends. Once all of them were certain they would not be overheard, Danny told them about the strange green wall that saved him from whatever tried to attack him. 

His friends were convinced it had something to do with his ghostly side. However, he wasn’t as certain. Up until that point, the only ghostly abilities he’d seen were the random bouts of invisibility and intangibility of his arms and legs. Not only that, he hadn’t been able to switch to his ghostly appearance since he returned from the other side. 

Although it took a while, he eventually opened up to his friends about the little information he had about his abilities. Instead of being freaked out, they seemed fascinated. After a quick argument, Danny eventually gave in and agreed to let them attempt to help him figure things out. 

It wasn’t exactly the result he wanted. While he knew he was alive, he couldn’t ignore the fact part of him wasn’t exactly human. Up until he was released from the hospital, he thought he might be able to ignore what happened to him. However, between the events at school and whatever the thing that tried attacking him was, he knew it was impossible. Clockwork and Frostbite even warned him he might be in danger in the world of the living.

Speaking of Clockwork, how would the ghost contact him? Or better yet, how would Danny contact him? Did the ghost know what that thing was? Or how it could be stopped? If anything, that was the sort of very important information he needed. 

Danny sighed and prepared for bed. He hoped everything would start making more sense in the morning.

….

When he finally wandered down to the kitchen the next morning for breakfast, Danny was surprised to find Vlad Masters talking with his parents. His unofficial uncle stood and swept him into a hug once he realized he was there. 

“Daniel, I’m so happy to see you’re alright.” Vlad made a show of being concerned once he released him. “I’m deeply sorry I was unable to visit you when you were hospitalized. Between the police investigation from both my employee’s and your class’ disappearances and the resulting paperwork, it was impossible to make the trip.”

As much as Danny usually didn’t mind the visits from Vlad, today, the man sent shivers down his spine. It didn’t make any sense. As unnerved as he was, he figured he was just being paranoid and tried to shrug it off. “It’s fine. I mean, I know how busy you are. I did get your ‘get well’ gift though. I can’t believe you were able to get the blue prints for that shuttle! It usually takes at least a few years for NASA to release information like that.” 

“It was no trouble at all, my boy. But, your parents told me something troubling. You were attacked yesterday?”

Danny just shrugged as he grabbed some of the pancakes waiting on the counter. “Yeah, the police are looking for the guy,” he eventually answered after he sat down and took a bite. 

“Honey, Vlad’s here at our request.” After raising a questioning eyebrow at his mother, she explained, “Your father and I did some digging on the thing you saw yesterday. On accident, we discovered other similar reports, not just from here, but from other places where there have been a lot of strange deaths. To be blunt, Danny we’re not exactly sure what you saw, but we’re becoming worried something dangerous has started crossing over into our world.”

“So why…?”

His dad startled everyone by pulling Vlad into a side hug. “Your mom contacted Vladdy here to see if he had some contacts for our research, and he decided he wanted to directly get involved. Isn’t that great?”

His mom fondly shook her head as Vlad tried to pull himself out of his dad’s grasp. “What your father means is that Vlad has offered to both fund and assist with the research this time around,” his mother clarified. 

“I felt it was prudent I was more directly involved,” Vlad explained as he straightened out his suit. “If I understood what your parents told me correctly, you didn’t see a person?” With that question, the normal businessman seemed to vanish, and a stranger suddenly appeared in his place as his expression turned predatory.

The expression reminded Danny of Plasmius, and it made the uneasy feeling worse. “Uh… I told my parents everything I saw.” He quickly finished his pancakes and ignored the desire to get a second helping. His parents even got the real maple syrup this time. It was so tempting, but he needed to get away from Vlad. Once his plate was rinsed and put in the sink, he headed towards the doorway. “Well, I need to get going. I promised Sam and Tucker I would meet up with them.”

“Young man, you’re not seriously thinking about going out today after everything that happened?” 

He just rolled his eyes at his mother. “I think as long as I stick to the main streets and don’t try to dodge behind buildings again I’ll be fine.” Before he left the room, he glanced at Vlad. “Hey… this might sound weird, but… uh, has anyone else gone missing from your company?”

The man’s eyes narrowed at the question. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Daniel.”

“It’s nothing. Forget I said anything.” Not wanting to be questioned any further, Danny ran out of the room to get ready. After getting ready in record time, he sped from the house and towards the park.

….

Well, he could have done a better job at forming an escape plan. Sure, he managed to get to the park without being attacked or having his parents decide they needed to follow him, but he wasn’t supposed to meet up with Sam and Tucker for another hour. Groaning, he plopped himself down on an empty bench and reviewed his options.   
He could continue to sit where he was, but being a teenager, boredom would quickly get to him. Checking his phone, he realized he probably didn’t have enough of a charge to keep him entertained while he waited. Now that he thought about it, ever since his misadventure to the land of the dead, it had trouble keeping a charge. Something about that place probably fried it. 

Not wanting to risk it going dead, he thought about his other options. Fast food was out. Tucker would kill him if he took a trip to the Nasty Burger without him. He could walk around town, but after what happened yesterday, he really didn’t want to risk running into whatever that thing was again. Actually, what was he doing in the middle of the park, alone, when that thing was running around town?

Paranoid, he glanced around. Other than a couple nearby trees, his current position put him in a rather open area of the park. No one or thing would easily be able to sneak up on him, and now that he thought about it, the weird feeling he got before it appeared wasn’t present. While he wasn’t completely relieved, it was better than nothing, and it still left him with nothing to do.

He checked the area again. The park was strangely empty for the time of day, though with all the strange things happening around town, he figured people were just staying away. So, maybe he could try to work on control his abilities a little. Having some sort of handle on the invisibility and intangibility would be nice.

After setting an alarm on his phone so he wouldn’t forget to meet up with his friends, he started focusing on his hands. When his abilities activated, it often felt as if the affected limb went numb, so he focused on that. However, attempting to will his own arm to go numb was just as hard as it seemed, and he quickly grew frustrated. Though, he did notice a cold child run up his spine. 

“How quaint. Didn’t your allies give you any information when they helped you escape?”

Startled at the voice, Danny jump up only to find Plasmius floating behind him. As he backed away, he realized the scenery changed. The purple and green swirls of the sky immediately alerted him to the fact he was back in the land of the dead. How in the world did Plasmius do that? 

“It’s a nice trick, isn’t it? But it’s really not that hard. Creatures like us who have ties to this world can easily slip into it. It’s only difficult when we try to bring the living with us.”

“I’ll remember that,” Danny replied dryly. “What… what do you want?”

“There are many things that I want,” the creature admitted, “but right now, I’m only interested in your progress and possibly to trade some information.”

“Well, I’m still living, if that’s what you want.”

“Yes, but not quite. While I loathe to say I’m not as skilled in being able to detect other ghosts and spirits as some of the others I’ve encountered, I can still detect the faint thrum of a ghostly core within you. Why don’t you change into your more fitting form?”

“More fitting?” Danny repeated faintly. This thing thought him looking like a ghost was more fitting? “Sorry to disappoint you, but I haven’t been able to chance since I came home.”

“Really? With how much ambient energy is available in your home, I would have thought it would have occurred fairly regularly as you adjusted. No matter. It seems your body is naturally responding to this world.”

“Huh?” His attention turned to the flash of light around his midsection. Knowing what that meant, he hugged his stomach as he tried to stop the process. His core was active. He could feel its power trying to surge through him. “Come on. Stop it.” He didn’t want to give Plasmius what he wanted, but his feeble attempts meant nothing and the power overcame him. As he fell to his knees as his body recovered from the recoil of trying to stop it, he sensed Plasmius float closer to him. 

“It’s remarkable how human you still look in that form. I would have thought there would have been a more drastic change as your core settled.”

“You mean you were expecting me to look something more like you?” 

“No, not necessarily like me, but it is unusual to find a ghost who could easily pass as a human without attempting to hide anything.”

Standing, Danny glared at the specter. “Are you just here to marvel at how weird I am? Or can I go now?” It was one thing for him to be unsettled by the changes, but he didn’t need some creepy ghost, who happened to be partially responsible for what happened to him, commenting on how he was different than other ghosts. Of course he was different! He was still human.

The ghost pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I am getting somewhat sidetracked. Now, Daniel, like I said, I approached you for information and nothing more. Firstly, what do you know of what is stalking this city? You encountered it recently, did you not?”

“How did you…?” A chill ran down Danny’s spine as he backed away. Was this thing spying on him?

“I believe I mentioned that I do try to keep taps on you. I still have not given up on wanting you to become my eventual heir after all, but rumors of it and others like it have been circling for a while. Ghosts older than I despise them, but it has been difficult to procure information regarding them.”

“You probably know more than I do then,” Danny replied. Plasmius did seem like he only wanted to talk, but that didn’t mean he could change his mind. If he did decide he wanted to attack, there was little Danny could do to stop him. If he was able to get out of this, he was definitely going to focus on working on his powers just so he could defend himself against Plasmius. “It looked like a deformed person. It… it…” The memory of it holding something red and the sound of dripping blood made his stomach turn. “It took… part of that person. When it left, it turned into an old lady.”

Plasmius frowned as he mulled over the information. “Daniel, what exactly did it take?”

The image flashed across his mind again, and his shook his head to try to get rid of it. “Look, I don’t know. There was blood down the front of the guy’s chest. It was part of his body. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

“Hmm… I wonder if that was the intention or an afterthought. I will investigate that. If it was intentional, then the rumors I’ve heard may in fact be true,” the ghost muttered to himself before glancing at Danny again. “Now, I have one final bit of information I need from you. What exactly do you know of my involvement with the companies of Vlad Masters?” His almost friendly attitude turned icy. 

“Involvement?” Danny replied nervously. He could feel Plasmius’ energy building, and he knew the specter wouldn’t hesitate to attack if he wasn’t careful enough with his words. “All I know if that you took one of Vlad’s employees for experiments.” After debating for a moment, he slowly added, “The person who helped me escape said you’ve done a lot of experiments like that. Wait, are you spying on Vlad so you can get new people for whatever you’re doing?” 

Nothing he said was technically a lie. However, he was definitely wasn’t going to say anything about how Tucker managed to copy some of the ghost’s files and discovered he was spying on what seemed like all aspects of Vlad’s companies. Yeah, that was going to remain a secret. 

Plasmius narrowed his eyes which prompted Danny to back away. “Butter biscuits! I seem to have unintentionally given away too much. I believe our meeting has come to an end, but mark my words, boy, it would do you well to stay out of my business. What I’m doing is to benefit both of us.” With that warning, he faded from view. 

Danny spun around to attempt to figure out where he went only to find himself back in the park. There didn’t seem to be any sign of Plasmius, and he didn’t seem to have any of the weird chills he tended to get before something strange happened.

He should be happy he hadn’t been injured by the other ghost, but the interaction left him unsettled. How did Plasmius know where he was? Was he stalking him? Actually, seeing as the ghost orchestrated an entire scheme to get to him when his school was on a camping trip that was probably the case. To make matters worse, now that he was something in between a human and a ghost, Plasmius could pull another stunt like that any time he wanted. 

Not wanting to stay out in the open any longer, he grabbed his phone and ran. According to the clock, he still had some time before he needed to meet up with his friends, but that was not going to deter him from going to Sam’s house. As silly as it was, her parents’ anti-paranormal stance almost acted as an unofficial ward. If anything tried creating chaos in that house, he was positive Mrs. Manson would somehow throw it out of the house by sheer force of will. 

Once he was out of the park, he took a moment to text Sam to let her know he was on the way. While he knew she wouldn’t exactly mind if he showed up early, it was still better to let her know so she could keep her parents at bay. The only tolerated him after all. 

When he was done, a he noticed something off about his reflection. His hair was still white. Panicked, he checked himself, and sure enough, it seemed as if he was still in his ghost form. He tried to trigger the change, but he had no idea what to do to reverse it. When he was with Frostbite, his body just seemed to do it automatically. Not wanting to say out in the open any longer than he had to, he ran.

As he approached Sam’s house, he called her to give her a heads up on his problem. Her response was to have him climb up the rope ladder she had for her regular escapes so he could get to her room without risking her parents seeing him before the problem was fixed. 

Ten minutes and one harrowing rope ladder climb later (seriously, that thing was a safety hazard), Danny found himself sitting on Sam’s bed while she examined him. Her pokes and prods made him self-conscious to the point where he actually pulled away from her. 

“I get it. I look weird, but will you seriously stop?”

She shook her head as she sat down beside him. “In all honesty, you don’t look that weird at all. Compared to the last time I saw you like this, you actually look healthy.” When he gave her an incredulous look, she grabbed his hands. “What? I’m being serious. Aside from the glow, you look fine. The first time, you had this weird green tinge to your skin which was really creepy.”

“Thanks? I think?”

Realizing she was still holding his hands, she let go and stood up. “Ignoring that, my parents are actually still home for once. Let’s see if we can get you back to normal, well, your version of it, that is.” At his indignant ‘hey’, she just laughed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes home isn't as safe as you think
> 
> Note: with this chapter, the AO3 posting is now caught up with the FF.net posting. Updates will be sporadic from here on out, but I do try to release a chapter once a month.

“Well, at least we know your parents could hire him to clean their ceilings if he stays stuck up there.”

“You’re not helping, Tucker,” Danny snapped at him from his spot on the ceiling.

More amused than surprised anymore, he just let Sam continue to try to help Danny change back to his human form while he worked on his own project. When Sam messaged him earlier that there was an issue, he hadn’t expected to walk into Sam’s room and find Danny, in all his ghostly glory, sitting cross-legged on the ceiling above Sam’s bed and having a panic attack. After taking in the absurdity of the situation, he tried for several minutes to help Sam somehow get him down. When all rescue attempts failed, mostly because Danny couldn’t seem to hold on to anything they threw at him, Sam moved to a different tactic. She hoped getting him to relax would somehow help. 

Since that wasn’t his forte, Tucker decided his way of helping would be to finish reviewing the information he got from Plasmius while making comments about his friend’s predicament. Although he knew the digs annoyed Danny and Sam, he needed to do it for his own sanity. 

Up until this point, Tucker really hadn’t registered the paranormal as being truly real. Sure, they did get abducted by a crazed ghost and then attacked by an even crazier ghost, but the more time passed without a ghostly incident, he had almost rationalized it as some stress induced hallucination. Almost being the key word. He knew his best friend had been fundamentally changed by the event, but other than the freak out at school and his now permanently chilly skin, Danny hadn’t done anything ghostly until now. Speaking of which…

“How exactly did you end up like this?” he questioned moments before Danny finally fell from the ceiling and landed face first on Sam’s bed. “You okay, dude?”

“More okay then I was when I was stuck on the ceiling,” he sighed as moved himself to the edge of the bed. His unnatural green eyes scanned the room as if searching for something. “I’m like this because of Plasmius.”

“Wait, wait? That’s a pretty big thing to neglect to mention.”

“I’m sorry I got distracted by discovering I was walking around in my ghost form or whatever you want to call it.”

“Don’t antagonize him, Tucker. That seems to make things worse,” Sam scolded as she pointed at Danny, who started to float again. “See? But that is pretty important.”

Danny huffed as he experimentally shifted, making it look like he was just lying on his stomach… in mid-air. Seemingly alright with the position, probably because he was only about a foot above the bed, he continued. “Look, I was planning on immediately telling you guys as soon as Tucker arrived, but I panicked when I realized I couldn’t change back. But since that doesn’t seem to want to change any time soon, I guess I just explain what happened.” 

Once Danny was done, Tucker let out a whistle. “That’s some story. Glad he let you go, but it’s really creepy that he can just pluck you into that other world when he wants.”

“Why was he here in the first place?” Sam asked as she worked up enough courage to sit near where Danny was still floating. “That’s what’s bugging me about it. Was he just really here for information?”

“That’s what I don’t get either. Whoa! I’d like it if my body would make up… its mind?” As Danny fell onto the bed once again, a blinding light suddenly washed over him. Once it faded, he was back in his human form. “Well, at least that fixes that problem for now.”

Deciding not to comment on his friend’s obvious relief, Tucker somewhat changed the direction of the conversation. “At least Plasmius confirmed he’s interested in Vlad Master’s companies for something nefarious. Most of what I’ve gotten so far on that data are files on different employees.”

Danny’s eyes lit up at the statement. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Vlad’s in town.”

“That’s convenient,” Sam dryly stated after she shared a look with Tucker. “Why’s he here?”

“Apparently, when my parents asked him for help getting some information, he decided he needed to be directly involved. He was visiting when I got up.” He glanced down and wrung his hands before adding, “But he seemed really off today.”

“Off how?”

“He gave me literal chills. I mean, if I think about it, that’s happened when ghosts were around, but not people. He also seemed off… like he was a different person.”

Unnerved, Tucker placed his PDA on Sam’s desk. “I hate to bring this up, but didn’t you say that thing that attacked you was able to change how it looked?”

Danny’s eyes widened briefly before he shook his head. “I… I don’t think that’s it. It was close, but there was still something off about how it looked. It also didn’t feel the same… the chill was different. Vlad felt… Vlad felt like Plasmius but not as strong? I don’t know how to explain it.”

“You mentioned that chill before when you freaked out because of Maura… do you think you can sense other ghosts now?” Tucker felt himself grin despite the situation. “I mean, cuz if you can, that’s really useful. I’d like to be able to stay on the complete other side of the city from where that creepy thing is.”

“Maybe? I certainly didn’t notice anything like it when we were trapped or escaping from Plasmius… but he did say something about how that’s possible.” A thoughtful expression briefly crossed his face, until he gave a wry grin. “Fat load of good it does if it only goes off when something is like ten feet away.” 

“Darn. Well, still let me know if you notice anything else weird. I’d like a head start over anything that might harm these good looks.” 

xxxxxxx

After their initial discussion of what happened, the rest of the time was spent seeing if Danny could get any sort of control over his ghost form. It took a while, but he did manage to find the preverbal trigger for the change. Via a couple hours under Sam’s Spartan-equse training, he was finally able to change to and from on command. While he hoped he’d have a chance to work on more of his abilities, it was definitely a success.’

Around dinner, he and Tucker left Sam’s and headed to their own respective houses. While his parents were relieved to see him before sundown, he couldn’t return the feeling. Vlad was still in the house. According to his parents, the businessman would be staying with them in the guest room for a while. 

“A while? How long’s a ‘while’?” he questioned as he looked for something to drink in the fridge.

“Well, that’s up to Vlad,” his mother replied as she added a few shakes of something to what smelled like stew. Vlad and his father were still in the lab. “While he’s not entirely certain how long he will be able to remain away from his businesses, he’s hoping to be able to stay for a couple weeks.”

Unhappy with that answer, Danny grabbed his drink and disappeared into his bedroom. If he was honest, he wanted to practice more with his abilities. It would be a shame not to with how much progress he made earlier, but he wasn’t exactly certain what tools his dad and Vlad might be using. Some of them where supposedly able to detect differences in energy levels. Without knowing the specifics of his abilities, he really didn’t want to clue them in. 

Actually, was he ever going to tell his parents? That was a good question. Right now, when he didn’t have much control or understanding over anything, it didn’t seem like a good idea. Perhaps down the road? Maybe. Actually, maybe they might have so information regarding what happened to him. 

A little later, his parents called him down for dinner. For him, it was a relatively normal affair, save for the chills Vlad kept giving him. Seriously, what was up with that? Vlad had been a fixture in his life for years, and there was never an issue before. Maybe Plasmius somehow influenced him or something? He guessed it was possible. There were legends about ghosts doing stuff like that, but he had no idea how to even begin figuring that out. 

After dinner, he once again retreated to his room. Frustrated, he decided a few hours of Doomed would be a good distraction from everything.

…..

Right around three am, something woke Danny. Rubbing his eyes, he realized he fell asleep gaming. Stretching, he turned off the game before checking one of his drawers for clean pjs. Deciding it wasn’t worth it, he headed to his bed only to stop when his breath misted in front of him. 

Now wide awake, he stopped and listened. There were the normal sounds of the furnace and his dad’s snores. Wait, the furnace? Then why could he see his breath a moment ago? Spooked, he opened his door as quietly as possible and stuck his head out into the hallway.

Nothing seemed out of place. No one was in the hall. There was no light from his parents’ room or the spare bedroom Vlad was using. Deciding something still didn’t seem right, he crept down the hall and peaked down the stairs. 

Eyes, dark eyes with a faint red glow, peaked out at him from the darkness of the living room. Knowing whatever it was saw him, he panicked and ran towards his parents’ room. “Mom! Dad! There’s something in the house!” he yelled as he frantically beat on the locked door. Of course it was one of those nights.

“Oh my god, what is that thing?” Vlad’s voice and the growl that followed forced his attention to the staircase. The sickly gray color of its skin made it somehow stand out in the shadows. The creature, the same one Danny encountered in the alleyway, stood in all its horrible glory at the top of the stairs. Its face was twisted in a grotesque snarl, and it swayed slightly. With an uneasy jolt, Danny realized the thing seemed to be debating who to go after first.

At the sound of the lock on his parents’ door turning, the thing lunged forward. Danny barely had time to register his mother pulling him into the room while his father roared, “Eat this!” 

The familiar whine of one of his parents’ blasters powering up was followed by a blinding green blast and then another. As his parents decided to chase the thing, he curled up behind the door. The sounds of the blasts and something else, something unnatural, crashing into furniture could be heard from the downstairs.

How did that thing get in the house? Better yet, how did it find him? It was his fault. He needed to help, but what could he do? He had no ability to fight against it. Heck, he still didn’t know what it was other than dangerous and evil. 

When the sounds in the downstairs stopped, he held his breath and waited. A sigh of relief escaped him when his mother called for him and Vlad. Not caring he was a teenager and by default hated hugs from family members, raced to his mother’s side and embraced her. Understanding he was frightened, she rubbed his back and reassured him she was fine. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” the light snapped on to reveal blast marks, destroyed furniture, and Vlad appraising the scene from the bottom step, “but what exactly was that thing? Should I contact the police?”

Embarrassed someone saw him, Danny quickly let go and retreated a few steps. His mother smiled at him before replying, “It’s already been taken care of.” She pointed to what Danny recognized as the button of one of the alarm systems; it was flashing. “Jack’s checking the perimeter to make sure that thing is gone. In the meantime, I’m going to make us hot chocolate.”

“But what if that thing comes back? Surely Jack wouldn’t just leave you alone.”

She flashed him a grin as she held up a miniature blaster. “Thank you for being concerned, but I’m actually the better shot between the two of us.” 

After glancing at Vlad, who seemed both dumbfounded and proud, Danny hurried into the kitchen after his mother. He really didn’t want to leave her side if that thing came back. 

“Danny,” his mother stated after they were seated at the kitchen table with hot chocolate in hand, “be honest with me, was that the same thing you saw in the alleyway?”

He took a sip of his drink before answering her. “I… I think so. I mean, I’m not exactly sure if it was the same thing or not, but it looked similar.”

“You’re telling me that’s the thing you’re researching?” Vlad sounded surprised, but Danny noticed how tightly he gripped his mug. Why did he seem angry? “That thing was an abomination.”

His mother nodded. “While there are some stories regarding things like that in folklore, most of the recent ones seem to be more fiction than fact, so Jack and I tended to disregard them.” She sent him an apologetic smile, “However, with Danny’s report, we decided to look into it and didn’t like what we found. That’s why we reached out because we needed to get the resources to verify the data.”

“What do you mean you didn’t like what you found?” His whole body felt icy again, but this time, it seemed to be from fear and not some paranormal creature. 

“I want to verify something with the officers,” she glanced at the clock on the wall before muttering, “when they finally get here first. However, if Jack didn’t manage to get it, I’m not sure if it’ll come back or not. We definitely wounded it,” she pointed to a spot in the living room where something wet, dark, and faintly glowing could be seen, “but I don’t know if that was enough to ward it off or if it’s vengeful enough to return.”

“But why was it here?”

“If I may?” Vlad glanced at his mother, who nodded. “If it was in fact the same creature Daniel saw, it may have come for him, or, it simply could have been drawn to the house. Forgive me, but you do have a lot of ectoplasm and other potential energy sources on hand.”

“Hmm… we have been meaning to update our storage devices. That can easily be done, but if Danny is a target, that would be much harder to fix.” His mother reached out and gently put her hand on his. “Sweetie, don’t take this the wrong way, but your father and I are worried you might have been changed because of your disappearances.”

That was putting it lightly, he ruefully thought. However, instead of agreeing, he asked her to explain what she meant. 

“Well, you know we theorized you temporarily slipped into a different dimension when you were younger? It’s possible that somehow altered you. Pass reports of those ‘spirited away’ often report the person was somehow changed. Since before you seemed fine, save for the times we caught you staring as if you saw something we couldn’t, we figured you may have developed a sensitivity to the paranormal.” 

He nodded. That made sense. Although, he was embarrassed his parents picked up on how he sometimes saw those shadows. Apparently he didn’t do nearly as good of a job as he thought at keeping that a secret. 

His mother bit her lip before continuing. “But, this past time… something changed. I know you told the police you were abducted by a person, but the complete disappearance and then reappearance… and that none of you who disappeared could be tracked… and the injuries… and how that poor boy was found… it never made sense it was a human. And when you came back, the changes in your vitals, we knew there was something more to it. You don’t have to tell me anything if you’re not ready,” she added when she noticed his panicked expression, “but whatever changed might have made you something like beacon to creatures of other worlds.”

His mouth felt dry. His parents actually suspected there was something off about him, and they just accepted it? Should he tell them how much he really changed? No, Vlad was in the house. He didn’t need to know anything about it. However, he could start probing for some of the answers he wanted. “If… if I have changed, how…?”

“We’re not exactly sure what will happen in the long run,” she replied as she picked up on his train of questioning. “Old accounts vary, and it’s difficult distinguishing fact and legend. Anyways, Danny I just want to verify the thing that attacked us tonight and whoever abducted you on the camping trip are not the same thing.”

He violently shook his head. “No, they’re completely different…”He debated with himself for a moment. Should he tell her about Plasmius appearing? Or the thing Clockwork discovered? Or the horde that attacked Sam, Tucker, and their classmates on the way back? “At least, whoever took me, Sam, and Tucker was completely different. I don’t know what grabbed the others.” That was true enough. 

Vlad remained unusually quiet during the exchange, but unlike other times where he seemed disinterested or involved, this time it seemed like he was mulling over something. Also, Danny hadn’t missed the way his eyes narrowed when he added on the information about the camping abduction.

A knock at the door spooked everyone. They turned to see his dad opening the door followed by a couple police officers. “I found the police!” he said with a grin. “They thought it was another false alarm.”

“False alarm? False alarm?” His mother stood and marched over to the officers who were taking stock of the damage with wide eyes. “My family gets attacked, and you have the nerve to think it was a false alarm? If my husband and I didn’t have the means to defend ourselves, we would have been killed!”

Danny just sighed and continued sipping his drink as he watched his mother scold the officers. His dad joined him. Both of them knew it was better to let her get it out of her system than to try to get involved. Besides, he’d probably never get to see police officers get chewed out like that ever again. Now if only he had some popcorn.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: if it hadn’t been implied earlier, Maddie and Jack are going to be involved/decent parents in this fic. It makes sense with how this story is laid out – their son has gone mysteriously missing 3 times. They try to keep an eye on him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigations and fires

It took almost twenty minutes for Danny’s mom to finish her tirade against the police. Watching her flip out on the officers was almost therapeutic, and by the time she was done, he was more amused then terrified. It made the actual interview much easier. 

The police were initially skeptical, especially since his dad took the lead on explaining what happened. His childish excitement at getting to chase something made it sound like some made up fantasy, but that changed when Vlad gave his account. With his reputation, they were forced to take it seriously.

The older of the two officers, O’Brian, took the statements as his partner, Kiziah, reviewed the scene for any clues or evidence of how the creature got in the house. Other police offers were on the way to do a proper investigation. 

“You’re the one that reported that murder… That was just, I guess it’s two days ago now,” O’Brian mentioned as he glanced at Danny, who nodded. “We chalked up the weirdness of your original statement due to shock, but if you’re telling me this thing is the same perp, I have no idea what we have on our hands.”

“I… I don’t really know if it was the same thing or not, but it looked like it.”

The officer frowned as his partner returned. “No obvious sign of a break in,” Kiziah stated, “but I don’t want to touch anything without an evidence kit. There’s definitely a weird substance in the living room and near the front door that will need analyzed.”

“You didn’t hear anything?” O’Brian looked back towards Danny and his parents.

“To be honest, our family tends to be heavy sleepers,” his mother explained as she gave him a sheepish grin. “Jack can sleep through almost anything, and I tend to wear earplugs.”

“And I am of the opposite,” Vlad stated as he made himself a cup of tea. “However, it wasn’t until I heard Daniel sprint up the stairs and bang on his parents’ door that I awoke.”

“Sorry about that.” Danny winced at he glanced at the man. Vlad didn’t seem as creepy as he had the previous day, but something still seemed off about him. 

The man gave him a dismissive wave. “No worries, my dear boy. I believe your actions were more than understandable given the circumstances.”

“Err… I guess you want me to say if I heard anything?” Danny shook his head as the officers stared at him. “I didn’t. It… it was just a feeling, you know? Like when you get a sudden chill.” That statement was true enough. He figured it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to state the more paranormal aspect of it. “I thought I was just being paranoid until I looked down the stairs and that… that thing stared back at me.”

An awkward silence fell as O’Brian took some more notes. It was only broken when Kiziah received some sort of notification and moved to let the investigation team in. They quickly went to work examining the scene and looking for anything out of the ordinary. While they worked, an older man with a scar down the right side of his face took O’Brian and Kiziah aside and spoke with them. Once they finished, the older officer approached Danny and his family.

“I’m Lieutenant Metzger, and I’ve recently been put in charge of the investigation of the recent murders in the city. You’ve probably heard the rumors this is a serial case. Well, that’s true.” A muscle moved in the man’s cheek as he seemed to debate with himself over how much he could tell them. “Due to some of the details, we were under the impression these were ritualistic in nature and called in the FBI for some help.” He sighed before asking, “Is it okay if I sit?”

“Sure,” Danny’s mother shared a confused look with her husband before she asked the officer if he needed some coffee.

When he agreed, he waited until there was a cup in front of him to continue. “Look, I don’t want this being leaked. We don’t need people thinking the police force is wasting money on chasing fairy tales.” Once the Fenton family agreed, he continued, “You aren’t the first one to report something not quite human around the time of the incidences. Due to shock and figuring it was some sort of disguise, we originally disregarded that. However,” he glanced around before he leaned in, “one of my own officers gave a report earlier this week of glancing something inhuman. It actually attacked his patrol car before it vanished. On top of that, I don’t think whatever that thing spilled on your carpet has any sort of mundane explanation behind it.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I’m going to be frank with you. I would like to contract you for some sort of weapon for this thing. From previous experiences, I’m fully aware your… experiments don’t tend to do harm to people, so if… by the off chance, this isn’t something normal, we’ll have a way to stop it.”

Danny’s father immediately lit up in excitement. After rambling some idea, he ran down to the lab to act upon it before anyone could stop him. 

“Don’t mind him,” his mother fondly chuckled. “Jack is very enthusiastic about our work.”

“I… uh… take that you’re willing to help us?”

“Oh, absolutely. If this thing is what we think it might possibly be, we were going to do that anyways. But I do need to ask you something. You mentioned you thought the attacks were ritual in nature. I’m not really sure how to ask this, but for those poor people, was there a part of the body missing?”

Metzger’s shoulders tensed at her question as his eyes narrowed. “How did you know about that?”

“Wait… wait, you’re telling me… that thing… what it was holding in its hand…” Danny couldn’t say it. The memory of the blood dripping from that thing’s hand temporarily overwhelmed him. He must have swayed as his mother gently put a hand on his shoulder. 

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. If you decide to go help your father, I think he’d gladly welcome the help.” 

Danny shook his head at the suggestion. He needed to stay put. It just felt safer with her and the officers around. She must have somehow understood as she gave his shoulder a motherly squeeze.

“You didn’t answer my question.” An irritated edge crept into Metzger’s voice.

His mother calmly turned back to him and returned his gaze. “I didn’t until just now. After Danny relayed his story, it struck a chord with me, and I did some digging. There is folklore in different parts of the US which tells of creatures who steal the life of humans and often a part of the body. If… if that’s what’s happening, then we’re in trouble.”

“What do you think this thing is doing?”

“Nothing good. Throughout history, humankind has offered up blood and other bodily sacrifices to gods, spirits, monsters, and everything in between. While usually the Aztecs come to mind, you can find evidence of this around the world. It’s believed those sacrifices would either strengthen or appease whichever entity was the focus.”

“Maddie, are you suggesting this thing is doing something similar?”

She nodded. “I… We aren’t sure if this thing is trying to strengthen itself or if it’s taking its gains to something else.”

A different memory surfaced in Danny’s mind. “That… when we were being rescued… the… the person that helped us get back… he said the A-listers got targeted for their blood,” he stammered before he could stop himself. 

Everyone in the room stared at him. He and his friends really hadn’t talked about Frostbite. They mentioned to the police they thought someone helped them, but purposely left it vague. With how disoriented they were when they were found, the police were under the impression the trauma obscured some of their memories. Well, the cat was out of the bag.

Matzger stared at him. “Are you telling me what happened to your classmates may be related to… to this thing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? Like I told my mom before you came, the person who grabbed me and my friends isn’t the same… whatever that thing is. But, I don’t know what Dash and them encountered after we got separated.”

“Hmm… what about the person who helped you?”

Danny shook his head. “Not the same person. He called himself Frostbite, and…” How could he even explain Frostbite? He was a ghostly yeti with an ice arm for God’s sake! “I didn’t think he was real,” he eventually stated as he glanced down at his hands. “He was so friendly and helpful. He was so much different than that thing.”

“Honey, you never really talked about this Frostbite person before.” His mother tried to reach out for his hand, but he pulled away.

“I… I thought he was a dream or hallucination or something for a while.” He hoped he sounded sincere. It was somewhat true after all. The fantastical nature of what happen still didn’t seem real to him, but he knew better. “I think he had helpers… there were other voices besides his.”

“That would line up with some of the evidence we have from your case,” Matzger stated as he rubbed his chin. “The injuries of you and your two friends were vastly different than the others who went missing which suggested multiple perpetrators. One of the other boys did mention that he thought they were rescued by a small group of people. I will have to take a closer look at the injuries of your classmates to determine whether or not they match up with our current victims. That should give us an idea if it’s the same thing or something different.”

“Sir,” officer Kiziah interrupted, “we’ve finished our initial sweep. We did have some trouble trying to keep Mr. Fenton out of the way in the basement area, but he’s promised to stay at the one table while we work. He’s apparently drafting some blueprints. Forensics is here and are working on collecting evidence. They’re hoping to talk to you.”

He sighed. “Thank you, Kiziah. Can you explain to them their options during our investigation progress?” After flashing them an apologetic smile which seemed out of place with his features, he told them he would be in touch and excused himself. 

After shaking his head at his superior, Kiziah stated while the family could stay in the house during the investigation process, it had the possibility of accidentally contaminating evidence. He recommended for them to stay at a local hotel for a time. 

Although his mother seemed hesitant to leave the house, she eventually agreed to head to a hotel after Vlad made a show of being concerned for the family’s safety. It took a bit of time to get his dad to leave the basement, but by the time seven am hit, Danny found himself in the best hotel in Amity Park, per Vlad’s firm recommendations.

After sending his friends a few texts to let them know what happened, that he was fine, and where he was, he told them he’d call them after he got some sleep. Although he wasn’t exactly happy he shared the room with Vlad, the pristine bed ended up being far more important to him than any worries.

…..

Several hours later, Danny woke up to one hundred and three texts, fifty-four missed calls, and eleven voicemails. Sam and Tucker had only one voicemail and call apiece and only a handful of texts. The rest were from his sister. Groaning, he sent Sam and Tucker messages to let them know he’d call them after he contacted his sister. 

He really didn’t want to talk to Jazz at the moment. When she was scared, she became spastic, and a spastic Jazz was the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment. Okay, the third to last think he wanted to deal with. The creepy thing and Plasmius took the top two places. 

After taking several minutes to do everything other than call his sister, he finally buckled down and called her. As predicted, she spastically demanded to know if he was okay while berating him for not contacting her sooner. He just let her talk while making the occasional ‘uh huh’, ‘sorry,’ and ‘yeah.’ From experience, he knew it was better to let her get it out of her system. 

He put Jazz on speaker while he attempted to find the hotel’s TV remote. Vlad didn’t seem to be in the room which really didn’t bother him. The man didn’t need to listen to Jazz flipping out after all. Eventually, he found the remote next to a message from Vlad stating he and his parents went to discuss something with the police and would be back with food. 

“Danny, are you even listening to me?” Jazz demanded. He must have been quiet for too long. 

“Uh? Yeah, I just happened to find a note Vlad left. You were saying something about how it was irresponsible for Dad to go running after the thing?”

“Wait, are you telling me you were left alone after everything that happened?”

“Jazz, I’m seventeen. I think I’m perfectly fine being alone for a few hours.”

“You were kidnapped by a crazy man and then were attacked in your own home! Do you really think it’s safe for you to be alone right now?” With that, she flew into a different tirade. 

Knowing it would be a while, he decided the TV would be a preferable alternative to his upset sister. He turned it on only to have it immediately turn off. Thinking he accidentally doubled clicked the button, he tried again only to have the same result. Thinking the remote was damaged, he moved to try the button on the machine. Only, it turned on by itself. It and the lights began to dim and flicker, and his breath began to mist. 

Glancing around, he watched as a girl emerged from the wall. At first, it seemed she didn’t notice him as she moved towards the opposite wall, but she stopped midway and faced him. She looked human but her entire body seemed insubstantial and almost wispy. Her skin, if it could be called that, was an unearthly white while her blue hair flickered like a flame.

She smirked at him while moving a little closer. “You shouldn’t be here, Baby Pop.” Her sultry and musical voice seemed far away, almost as if it was being broadcasted over an old radio. “Don’t know what you’re doing on this side of the veil, but you shouldn’t stay here.”

“What… what are you talking about? Who are you?” he stammered while vaguely registering Jazz asking him what was wrong.

“I like to slip to this side for some fun, but I might stick around a little longer this time. It’s already chaotic here, and a little more might do me some good. Besides, it seems I need to make a few people remember I still exist.” After appraising him, she gave another smile and headed back towards the wall. “You might want to get out while you can, Baby Pop. Things might get a little hot, and you new guys often aren’t strong enough to deal with the heat.” 

“Hey, wait!” He tried to get her to stop, but she just vanished back into the wall. Unsure what to do, he stood in the center of the room dumbfounded until he realized his phone was still on speaker and his sister was calling for him. 

“Hey, Jazz, I’m going to have to call you back,” he stated as he moved towards the door. “Something really weird just happened.” He hung up on her as he ran into the hallway looking for some evidence of the ghost. 

He barely made it to the elevators when the fire alarm sounded. Not wanting to stick around, he quickly found the stairs and made his way to the lobby as the rest of the guests started to follow suit. By the time he reached the third floor, he began to smell smoke. There had to be a fire. Is that what that ghost meant? Did she somehow set it? 

He really hoped that wasn’t the case. He really only needed on potentially supernatural thing causing problems in his life at a time.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A change of venues, discussions, and attempt at conversation
> 
> Chapter edited on 02/03/20

As Danny waited outside with the rest of the guests, his parents and Vlad met up with him. After they handed him a bag filled with one of his favorite Nasty Burger meals, he gave them a quick rundown of what he knew, save for the appearance of the ghost. While frustrated, his parents shuffled him into the RV so he could eat and warm up a bit. It was a chilly fall day after all.

As he ate, Danny vaguely wondered how his parents managed to convince Vlad, the man with the limo, to go across town with them. His dad’s driving prowess… well, lack thereof… was famous in the area. The townsfolk and even the police steered clear of any known Fenton vehicle. In actuality, he had no idea how his dad hadn’t lost his license. 

After a couple hours, the fire department cleared the building with the exception that rooms on the second floor could not be used until the police preformed an investigation to verify whether or not arson occurred. The rooms on that floor would also need cleaned. Thankfully, little damage ended up being done from the fire: a few pieces of furniture and some scorch marks. The majority of the damage ended up being from the hotel’s sprinkler system. 

After collecting their items, his parents drove to a large house on the outskirts of the housing plan where Sam lived. After asking what they were doing there, Vlad matter-of-factly stated he just finalized the payment on it. Danny’s utter confusion had to be evident as his parents explained Vlad recently decided to purchase a house in Amity Park since he would be around more to help with the research.

Well, it explained why it took his parents so long to get food. While the act itself didn’t seem that strange for Vlad, he did own a castle in Wisconsin after all, something about the timing bothered him. With the rare exception of a day when there was a major experiment malfunction, Vlad tended to stay with the family upon his visits. Exactly how long would he be in town if he needed to buy a new house?

After getting a quick tour of the house, Danny retired to his temporary room and called his friends. The three way call ended up being hectic as he explained what happened. “Guys, I’m telling you, I saw a ghost, and then somehow the hotel caught fire.”

“Calm down, Danny,” Sam instructed. “I know you’re telling the truth, but geez, how in the world did you end up being the center of so much trouble in two days?”

“My mom said something about me possibly attracting paranormal things now.”

“Makes sense, in a weird sort of way,” Tucker agreed as typing could be heard on his end. “I’ll see if I can dig up any stories of ghosts like what you saw this time.”

“Don’t worry about it, Tucker. You’re already looking into those files.”

“Nah, this’ll be easy. It’ll only take a couple minutes at most to set up a search and have it run in the background while we talk. Any specific things that stood out?”

“Other than the blue flaming hair?” He sighed and collapsed on his bed. “If she hadn’t been a ghost, she would have looked right at home in one of those bands Sam likes. She said she wanted to make people remember she still exists.”

“So she looked like a goth?” Sam questioned.

“Yeah, but with some, uh… I think you’d say she’s more punk.”

“Woah! That’s weird,” Tucker stated after something on one of his tech devices beeped in the background. “So, apparently there have been a series of spontaneous fires that seem to occur about every ten years, but they started after the death of a local girl. Some people think it’s her ghost that causes them. I’ll send you the articles.”

It took only seconds for the article links to be sent. Danny nearly dropped the phone when the picture of the mentioned girl appeared on the screen. With the exception of the hair, the girl’s face matched that of the ghost. “That… that’s her! Wow, she really doesn’t look that much different as a ghost.” 

“Wait, you’re serious?” Sam hummed as she reviewed the information. “Says here while she was unpopular at school, she was in a local band. She was found dead after her house burned down mysteriously. The police thought it might of been an arson, but officials were never able to verify anything. After her death and around its anniversary, there were reports of fires in the city. Sometimes, entire buildings are engulfed, but other times the words ‘you will remember’ appear burned into buildings.”

“I kinda remember hearing my dad mention something about ghost fires growing up, but with it being my dad, I never put any stock into it.”

“My mom said something about it once.”

“I have no idea why I keep forgetting your mom works for 911,” Sam interrupted. “You know, we might be able to use that to our advantage.”

“I mean, you can try, but she refuses to talk about anything other than the occasional funny call. The one about the ‘bambulance’ still brings me to tears.”

“Tuck, you’re getting distracted.”

“Right. Anyways,” some typing could be heard on Tucker’s end, “my mom thought the fires were from the girl’s bandmates. They had just recorded a song called ‘Remember’ which got some local play before she died. Since I know asking Mom for anything else is pointless, I think I’m gonna see if I can get into the files of those fires. The news articles all have explanations, but some of them seem a bit over the top.”

“How long will that take?”

Danny snorted. “Sam, it’s Tucker. Knowing him, he’s already looking at them.”

“I’m hurt, Sam. Do you really have that little faith in me?”

“I know you’ll be able to get them eventually. You’re track record hasn’t been all that great recently. You’ll still working on those files you got from Plasmius, after all.”

“Oh, I’ve finished the review on those. Some of it isn’t pretty, but I wanted to verify information directly from Vlad Master’s companies. That’s been slow going ‘cause he has some impressive firewalls, and I’m really trying not to get caught. As for this,” Tucker briefly shouted in triumph, “I’ve already gotten what I need. Hmm… that’s weird. The official investigations regarding the ‘Ember fires’, as they’re called, all state there was no known cause of the fire. There wasn’t even evidence of an accelerant… which is…?”

“It’s something used to make a fire go from a few flames to a roaring fire. Think of what happens when you add gasoline to a fire,” Sam explained as tapping could be heard on her end. Was she at the computer too? “Most arsonists use one. If they don’t, unless the flames start where there’s something like tissue paper, sawdust, or something else really flammable, the fire usually takes a lot of time to grow and become a problem. Tuck, is there anything about flammable materials?”

“Hmm… no, not really.”

Danny sighed as he got off the bed and paced his temporary room. “Great, now there’s a fire starting ghost on the prowl, on top of Plasmius, that thing… and possibly whatever is wrong with that girl. Tuck, do you have any updates on anything?”

“On the Plasmius front, no. Like I said, I’m trying to cross-reference those files against the files from VladCo and DALV, but that’s taking a while due to his security. For the creepy thing that attacked you, I have a notification set up for any potentially related attacks. I think that’s all I can do for now on that… As for Maura, I got distracted a bit when Plasmius had that chat with you, but I can tell you she stopped posting on social media right after her disappearing act. That’s pretty weird for girls in her clique. Give me a couple days to get her medical chart.” Something beeped in the background. “Oh, it looks like I might have a pattern for our fire bug ghost.”

“At least that’s something. Can you send them to me?”

Sam snorted. “What, you’re gonna try to figure out where she’ll be and talk to her?”

“I mean, it’s worth a shot. Maybe she knows something about Plasmius or that thing? And… maybe I can nicely ask her to stop lighting fires?”

“I think you’re just gonna end up with your ass kicked, but go ahead.”

“Thanks for that wonderful vote of confidence,” Danny deadpanned. The ghost was nice enough to give him a warning so she couldn’t be all bad. “I think if I open up with a ‘thank you’, she won’t outright attack me.”

“It’s your funeral.”

“Actually, Danny, can you die?” Tucker hesitantly asked. “I mean… your situation is kinda weird.”

He thought about it for a few moments. “I think so. Clockwork told me I’m alive, so that’s good enough for me. But, to be honest, I don’t really wanna think about it too much.”

“That’s fair.”

…

Danny’s conversation only lasted a few more minutes after Tucker asked the awkward question as his parents called for him over an intercom system. Uncertain if the correct response to the intercom should be to cringe or be impressed, he pushed it from his mind as he meandered down the hallways to attempt to find his parents. 

Something about the décor of the mansion seemed familiar, but Danny found it difficult to place it. Vlad loved the Green Bay Packers, and he commonly used their colors of green and gold for accents. He stopped in his tracks as he glanced around. Plasmius also had green and gold splashes in his home. It had to be a coincidence. 

Not wanting to think about it more, he raced down the halls and eventually came to the main foyer. His dad shot him a questioning glance as his mother stood and moved towards him. 

“Hi, sweetie! How are you adjusting? It’s been a hectic couple days.”

“I’m okay. I’m just a bit tired,” he told her as he dodged a hug. “I let Sam and Tucker know we’re fine. I’m not dealing with Jazz until after you guys talk to her.”

“I trust the room is to your liking?”

Danny jumped as Vlad’s voice came from behind him. How did he miss him? “Yes. Thanks for letting us stay.”

Vlad waved his hand dismissively. “It’s no trouble at all. My house is yours.”

“Vlad, you mentioned you had a workshop we can use?” His mother asked as she abandoned her attempts at hugging her son. 

After staring at her for a second, Vlad shook his head and regained composure. “Surely that can wait until tomorrow, my dear. You’ve been through quite a lot in the past twenty-four hours.”

“No can do, Vladdy!” Jack boomed as he excitedly stood. “You heard those policemen. They want a Fenton product, and I can’t sit still when that spook is still a threat to my family. Say, do you want to help?”

The billionaire grimaced before forcing a smile. “I must politely decline, but I will gladly look over any blue prints in the morning.”

“Don’t worry,” Maddie told him while giving her husband a fond grin, “I know how… enthusiastic Jack can be when he has a new project. I’ll also make sure he sleeps tonight. We don’t want any accidents.”

“That would be greatly appreciated.”

Danny glanced between Vlad and his parents. There was some sort of story he was missing. “Should I ask?” he hesitantly questioned.

“I was badly injured when we were in collage when an experiment went wrong,” Vlad explained as his expression hardened. “As a result, I’ve made it a rule to not be in a room when someone is actively making experimental items or preforming experiments. However, I’ll gladly double check procedures, blue prints, set ups, and results.”

“I… yeah… That… that makes sense. But you’re okay now?”

“Absolutely, my dear boy. You could say I gained a different outlook on life as a result.” Vlad gave a predatory grin which sent shivers down Danny’s spine. “Why, if I hadn’t gotten into that accident, I probably wouldn’t have ended up so successful.”

“Right…” His mother must have caught something off in Vlad’s tone as she furrowed her brow in confusion. “It’s gotten pretty late. Danny, will you be alright?”

“Huh? Probably. I mean, I could use a snack.”

“The kitchen and pantry are just down that hall.” Vlad pointed towards the hallway opposite of the way Danny originally came. “Will you be alright to be back to your room once you’re done? If you wait, I can escort you back once I’m done showing your parents where the lab is.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll be alright. ‘Night everyone.” Chuckling as his father couldn’t contain his excitement anymore and bounded down the hall followed by his amused mother and wary Vlad, he just made his way to the kitchen. It thankfully was easy to find, and after making a sandwich, he meandered his way back towards his room.

….

Around midnight, Danny decided he would attempt to sneak out of the mansion. Luckily for him, Vlad put him in a room on the ground floor, saying something about how the upper floors weren’t ready yet. Luckier still, there were no bars on the windows. Sam’s parents tried doing something like before due to how many times she snuck out, but it was struck down by her Grandma Ida, who still had control of the deed at that time. 

Escape ended up being a piece of cake. There didn’t seem to be any type of security system or guard which seemed strange, but that would probably change once the mansion was officially finished. 

He had an idea of where the ghost might end up appearing thanks to the articles Tucker forwarded to him earlier so he booked it in the direction of an older housing plan near the city’s boarder with Elmerton. The majority of buildings in the area were row houses in disrepair. While there were still a few low income families in the area, most of the houses were considered condemned. Danny remembered hearing talk of tearing the houses down at one point, but either the project was shelved or abandoned.

As he approached, he decided to shift to his ghostly form. While it seemed unlikely he would encounter anyone, the area did have a reputation for crime. While he didn’t know what sort of protection being a ghost would give him, it seemed a better option. And, if that thing tried attacking him again, maybe he could float to safety. He really hoped that thing didn’t appear; his trust in his abilities honestly was non-existent. 

The soft glow of his ghost form provided the majority of the light as he silently found his way to the road where the girl used to live. The few street lamps were either broken or burnt out, and some even seemed melted. 

His destination, Garnier Avenue, seemed worse than the surrounding streets. At first he thought the houses were just gutted, but a second look said otherwise. Most of them had some evidence of fire: melted windows, ash marks, and collapsed roofs and walls. Ash and dust could be found on the road as well as the sidewalk, and in some places, they almost looked like outlines of people. 

The area seemed dead. No noise. No sound. No movement. As he continued to move forward, his hair stood on end and his breath misted in front of him. It was almost as if he walked into some sort of wall of static electricity. 

“So this is what you actually look like. You’re not that bad looking after all,” a curious voice called to him, making him jump. Danny spun around to see the ghost from earlier materialize in front of him. Her appearance hadn’t changed, but she seemed more solid. Even her voice seemed closer and more natural. “Do you know how many of us would kill to be able to blend in that well?”

“Uh… I really wouldn’t know. This is really new to me,” Danny relied as he held up his hands in what he hoped was a submissive manner.

Her eyes narrowed. “So why are you here, baby pop? Do I interest you?”

He gulped at the undertones of her applications. “A little? I mean, you were nice enough to let me there would be a fire, and I wanted to thank you for that. And maybe ask a couple questions?”

“You just happened to be there at the right time,” she responded offhandedly though her satisfied smirk suggested his thanks was welcome. “It would be a waste to see someone like you get destroyed by accident. But, I would like to know how you found me.”

“I mentioned you to a friend of mine, and he was able to find out about your legend.” Danny hoped he sounded genuinely curious and not creepy. Wait, was it possible for him to not be creepy? He was a ghost after all.

She nodded. “I like to come back around the anniversary of my death. It helps strengthen me.”

“You do seem… I think stronger is the word I want.”

“Glad you noticed, and that makes you more observant than most of the guys I’ve met over the years. Call me, Ember.” Grinning again, she walked around him almost as if she was examining him.

“I’m Danny.”

She snorted. “Bet that’s your real name. Don’t met too many ghosts who remember theirs. You really must be new. Anyways, you had questions?”

“Yeah. I was hoping you might know something about this thing that’s been seen around the town. It attacked me, and it’s caused enough trouble to get the police interested.” When she didn’t immediately respond, Danny took that as a sign he could continue. So, he quickly explained his interaction with whatever the thing was. When he finished, Ember expression turned stony. 

“You’re telling me something like that has been seen in my town?” she demanded. Her hair, which had been gently waving in an invisible wind, suddenly blazed in a blue flame. “Are you telling me one of those things have been seen here?”

Danny gulped and nodded. “Like I said, it attacked me! What are they? Plasmius doesn’t know what they are either.”

“Plasmius? Plasmius is here too?” The temperature around them spiked as she shrieked. “Are you working for him? You better answer me, Dipstick.”

\---------------------------------------------------------

Notes: ghostly fire is usually considered insubstantial and doesn't tend to cause damage. Actual paranormal fire damage is usually associated with poltergeists, and more modern theories classify poltergeists as creations of psychokinesis (PK) agents (normally living people) instead of spirits.

Ember's background is directly taken from information provided by one of the show's directors.

"Bambalance" is a reference to an old but hilarious 911 call. You can find it on YouTube under the title "the guy, the deer, the dog, and the bambulance." There is some foul language in it.

Also, there is a very subtle 'Phantom of the Opera' reference in this chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fight or talk? That is the question
> 
> Note: story will be on break in the month of March due to personal event

"Plasmius? Plasmius is here too?" The temperature around them spiked as she shrieked. "Are you working for him? You better answer me, Dipstick."

Thrown off by her sudden hostility, Danny fumbled over his words. Unable to respond fast enough, he found himself tumbling across the asphalt by what felt like some form of shockwave. Glancing up, he found the ghost strumming an electric guitar. “Where’d that come from?” he mumbled to himself as he stood.

“Did Plasmius send you here?” she demanded as she rose into the air. She strummed a few cords with a windmill motion of the arm, and before he could respond, once again, it felt like something unseen hit him. “Do you have any idea what that man did? Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” 

Another wall of pressure slammed into him as she strummed again. There had to be some sort of connection between whatever was hitting him and her guitar, but what could he do? With the exception of the occasional floating and the one time he created what could only be described as a shield, he had no experience with his abilities. But, he needed to do something because her wild eyes and snarl told him she had no desire to stop any time soon. 

He tried to think of something, of anything, but his panic was getting to him. Her attacks hurt, like really hurt. Until this point, the time he broke his arm while bike riding topped his pain experiences, but this was different. Was she trying to kill him? Or was she just trying to get him to talk? Either way, the damage she was causing couldn’t be good for him.

“Aren’t you going to fly?” she demanded as he rolled over to dodge another one of her attacks. “Are you really that new? Or are you just too stupid to remember you’re a ghost?”

“Maybe if you… *pant* give me a moment to catch my breath…”

“Breath? News flash, dipstick: you’re dead! You don’t need to breathe!” After turning a knob on her guitar, she strummed her guitar again. This time, instead of an invisible wall of sound or energy or something, a pinkish blast came his way. 

Yelping, he scrambled to move only to be thrown several feet as the blast barely missed him. He glanced to see a crater in the asphalt where the attack hit. Not wanting to get hit by the new type of attack, he decided his best attempt at surviving was to run. 

“Aww, what’s wrong? Don’t you want to jam with me anymore?” Ember cackled as she followed him in the air. “Did you forget? You’re the one who came to see me!”

He needed a moment to think, but she wouldn’t give him a chance. Not only that, the temperature in the area had been steadily increasing. In the chilly autumn night, it was originally welcome, but as it became warmer, it became harder for him to catch his breath efficiently. His body also felt heavy and sluggish. She did briefly mention new ghosts couldn’t stand the heat so maybe it was also doing damage. 

“This is a misunderstanding!” Danny tried to plead as he jumped out of the way only to be hit by a different blast. Struggling to get back to his feet, he stared up at her and braced himself for another attack. “I’m not working for him! WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?” A green dome surrounded him in time to bounce the most recent attack back towards Ember, knocking her backwards.

After staring at her and then at his hands, his attention turned towards the dome. It had to be the same thing that appeared when he managed to defend himself from that creature. What was it exactly? Hesitantly, he touched it only to have it shatter and vanish. “Well… that’s something.”

Noticing Ember still seemed stunned, he once again held his hands up in hopes he didn’t look threatening. “Look! I don’t know what issues you have with him, but I’m not working for Plasmius. He’s the reason I’m like this!” he angrily gestured to his own body. “Do you want to continue kicking my butt? Or can we talk? Since I really don’t know how to fight back, I’d really like us to talk.”

The flames of her hair lessened as her posture relaxed. An expression, possibly pity, replaced her anger as her guitar faded into nothing while she floated back towards the ground. “You’re really not working for him? Well, damn. I guess I jumped the gun. Sorry about that, Baby Pop.” 

“Look,” he sighed as he rubbed his neck. He briefly made note of the cooling temperature. “Plasmius is just interested in me for some reason. I don’t want anything to do with him, but that doesn’t stop him from finding me when he wants. And that thing, he asked about it too.” 

“Let me ask you this first, what do you know about me?”

“Huh?” He hadn’t expected that specific question. “Err… the you now? Or the you before… well…?”

“Either one.”

After bringing out his phone and ignoring Ember’s puzzled expression, he double checked the information Tucker sent to him. “Well, I know you lived in this area, and that you were in a band. The you now is said to start fires like every ten years. I’m not sure how true anything else is.”

She nodded and pointed towards a house more charred than the rest. “That’s where I lived with my mother. The details are hazy, but I know it was an accident and that my old bandmates were involved. When I awoke like this, I wanted answers. After finding a way to cross back over, I haunted my friends. I wanted to scare them into talking, and to make sure they knew it was me, I used some of our song lyrics.”

“But, it’s difficult, especially for a new spirit, to stay here for too long.” Her gaze momentarily grew distant before she focused back on him. “When I finally returned, ten years past. The people who were involved with my death moved on with their lives, and I was infuriated. That’s when I met Plasmius. He offered to help me take my revenge.”

“Wait, Plasmius offered to help you? Why?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m getting to that. He asked if I cared what he did to them, and at the time, I didn’t. I regret that. I found out afterwards Plasmius wanted humans for experiments of some kind. I have no idea exactly what he did or why he did it, but,” her fists balled, and her hair blazed, “I saw the aftermath of what he did to one of my former friends. No one deserves what happened to him.” 

An icy pit formed in Danny’s stomach as he thought about everything he experienced. “He’s still carrying out experiments. My friend managed to take some of his files and is looking into it.”

“You should keep away from him. It’ll be safer for you if you do.”

An uneasy silence fell between them until Danny spoke up again. “Err… is Plasmius the reason you set fire to that hotel?”

“Huh? Oh that. No, that was for me. When I’m on this side of the veil, I need a way to retain energy. Keeping my legend alive helps, but I’ve lost most of my taste for revenge so I’ve been targeting buildings that are either empty or can easily handle a fire. As you get older, you’ll find out it can be hard to keep up your strength both here and on the other side. You’ll figure out what’s easiest for you.” She relaxed into a lounging position as she continued to float above the road. 

“It might come as a surprise, but I’ve also been trying to keep nosy kids away from this area. Amity is generally a safe place, but you probably have heard the stories of this area. It was just as bad when I was growing up. Stories made the rounds for years about kids in this area going missing. Some of it was crime, but after I passed away, I discovered there’s a door to our world in the area. Kids that stumble through it don’t often come back alive. With how close it is, it’s probably the reason I came back as a ghost.”

“Really? I thought those things only appeared in forests and stuff like that.”

She narrowed her eyes as she floated closer to him. “How new are you?” Not waiting for his response, she continued to talk. “Anyways, they can appear anywhere. The ones in cities get some sort of interference or something from the electricity, so they aren’t as regular as the ones out in the boonies. Say, do you want to know where it normally is? You probably aren’t strong enough to go back and forth without one.”

“Err… sure? I probably should know about it.”

“Well, come on then.” She floated up a little and glanced at him expectantly.

He couldn’t look at her, and he could feel the blush spread across his checks. “I… err… can’t really fly like you can. Don’t have a clue how to even float. It just kinda happens.”

Laugher erupted from her. “That’s a good one, baby pop. All ghosts seem to just know how to use their basic powers after the first few days.” When he continued to look at his feet, her amusement faded. “Wait, you’re serious? Here.”

He glanced up to see her extending him her hand. Hoping she wasn’t suddenly going to change her mind about talking, he took the invitation. Some energy that wasn’t his flooded through his body as she lifted him in the air, and an unpleasant fluttering sensation filled his chest.

“Seems your core is working just fine,” she told him as she began pulling him forward. “It’s a lot cooler than mine is. It’d be pretty neat if you develop water or ice based powers down the road. You don’t tend to meet ghosts who do who look so human.”

“Err… so, is it normal for ghosts not to look human?”

“Hmm? On average, the older the ghost, the less human that ghost looks, but that’s not always the case. I don’t really know any specifics. Some new ghosts look so weird that it’s hard to imagine they were once human, and some old ghosts can pass as humans. But, I do know we often change as we gain power, and that can be pretty drastic.”

That was an unnerving thought. He looked pretty normal now, but would he change in the future? Would it affect his human side too? If it did, how would he be able to hide it?

Ember must have noticed his distress. “Don’t think about it too much, Baby Pop. That isn’t something that happens until your current form is no longer a match for your strength. I was told that usually takes centuries.”

“Usually?”

She shrugged. “There are lots of ways ghosts can gain power. Some say some of those methods can jump start things. I don’t know really know, and don’t really care. Most of the ways I’ve heard to do that aren’t all that appealing to me. Anyways, here we are.”

Danny glanced down to see the Centralia Bridge. It was an old railway bridge that was no longer used for anything other than the art skills of vandals. Most of it was still intact, but some of the planks were rotting so locals knew to be careful if the desire to attempt to traverse it ever came to mind. 

Ember gently set him down near the one anchor point before pointing towards the concrete. “It’s most commonly found around there. Seems like it’s dormant at the moment. You can barely even feel it.”

He nodded as a chill ran down his spine. It was a familiar feeling, and one that filled him with dread. Glancing around, it didn’t seem like there was anyone else around, but he couldn’t the notion something was wrong.

“What’s up? I know it’s not impressive right now. You should see it when it’s open, then it’s really something,” she teased. However, her smirk disappeared after she caught sight of his expression. “You okay, baby pop?”

“We need to hide. Now!” When she just raised an eyebrow at him, he became more animated as his breath started to mist. “Look, I don’t know how to explain it. Something’s wrong. Something’s watching. We shouldn’t be here!”

Her eyes widened as she waved her hand in his misted breath. “How are you doing that? You shouldn’t…” She shrieked and yanked him up in the air as something lunged at them. “You weren’t kidding. That… that’s the thing you were asking about?”

“Yea…yeah…” he stammered as he peered down at the creature. 

It was that thing again. That same unnerving thing. The city lights hazily reflected off the thing’s sickly grey skin as it stared at them. Its eyes burned with hatred, but it made no move towards them. After what could have been either seconds or minutes, it glanced at its hand which held an unknown item that leaked a dark liquid on its hand and the concrete beneath it before moving towards the bridge support.

It never took its eyes off of them as it used its free hand to stroke a finger along the concrete of the support. The action caused the pillar to shimmer some, and a pressure that caused his chest to thrum unpleasantly hit him. Before it disappeared, slipping into the shimmering area, the thing screeched in way that reminded Danny of a dying animal.

Once it was gone, neither him nor Ember spoke or moved. The unpleasant atmosphere the creature brought lessened, but the night air remained unnervingly still. 

Their spell broke when his body decided it could no longer handle its ghostly form and forced him to become human again. Ember nearly dropped him in shock, but luckily managed to get a better hold of him before he truly fell. Scared, she flew the two of them back to Garnier Avenue.

“You… you told me you saw that thing, but… but I didn’t believe you,” she stammered after she safely put him down. “That’s not something I ever thought I’d see.”

“What exactly is it?” Nonstop shivers raced through his body.

“The older ghosts call them different things. ‘Collector’ and ‘Wraith’ are the most common.” She stared into the distance as she spoke before she shook herself and turned her attention back to him. “But more pressingly, what are you? I thought you’re just really good at hiding your appearance, but that’s not it? You’re somehow alive.”

He helplessly shrugged before launching into an abridged explanation of what happened to him and the little he knew. “So, yeah, that’s all I know. Clockwork suggested he’d get in touch, but I don’t know how or when. So… going back to these ‘Wraith’ things. Are they like the ‘Recruiters’ I got warned about?”

Ember slowly shook her head. “I personally think you’re more interesting. How someone like you is even possible is beyond me, but I guess I need to put my curiosity aside for now since it won’t be any fun if that thing gets you.” Her posture relaxed, and she floated in a sitting position as she listened. “I’m not completely sure what they are. Everything I’ve heard about them is from stories, but they’re normally said to have been modified somehow.” She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees. “If I’ve heard correctly, they’re designed to steal energy from the living… ah, but not in a relatively harmless way.”

“That makes sense, in a twisted sort of way,” he muttered. “The police think they’ve been killing people. I know I saw that thing standing…” He couldn’t say it as the image of the deceased person filled his mind again. “I think it killed that person. The police hesitantly admitted the people they believe it killed had body parts missing.”

“If that thing is in the area, you shouldn’t be out in the open at night. I know they’re dangerous, even to us ghosts, but I don’t know how powerful they are. You might want to look at finding old wards against ghosts, if you’re worried it might follow you.” She stretched and grinned at him. “Since I kinda feel responsible for attacking you earlier, let me take you back home. You still can’t fly, right?”

Warmth flooded his cheeks. Not sure if he was embarrassed from her being fairly attractive, even though she was dead, or if it was due to his inability to do something that apparently ghosts considered trivial, he stammered a polite ‘no, thanks.’

She just rolled her eyes at him before grabbing him and pulling him into the sky again. “Don’t complain. I’m not going to leave you out here with that thing loose. Now, where do you live?”

“Err… thanks?” he told her after pointing her in the right direction. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” She laughed when he raised an eyebrow at her. “Listen, baby pop. I’ll be just fine. I’m strong enough to handle things on my own, but I am going to head to the other side of the veil and alert my contacts about that thing. My current boyfriend considers himself a hunter, so I know the story will at least find its way to the right people.”

“Thanks. Wait, you have a boyfriend?”

“What? Is it so weird that a ghost is dating?”

Not wanting to sound offensive, he carefully phrased his answer. “Err… it really hadn’t been something I thought about. It’s not like I know too much about this stuff.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “I’ll give you a pass this time. Anyways, is this the place? How loaded are you?”

“It’s not ours. A family friend is letting us stay here while the police investigate our house.” He then directed her to the room that he was using. 

She did something which made him shiver before the two of them passed through the wall. He stared at her in awe once she put him down. “You’ll be able to do that too. It’s not that hard, and almost all ghosts can do that,” she preened. “Anyways, don’t go looking for that thing. Stay low and practice your abilities. You’re a sitting duck the way you are now.”

“Thanks for everything, Ember. I hope you don’t get in trouble or anything for this.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m not sure if we’ll meet again any time soon. I do have trouble trying to get back to this side, but I’m going to try to come back to check on you, so don’t go dying all the way in the meantime, k?” 

He barely had time to nod before she vanished from sight. After a quick check of the room to make sure she wasn’t somehow still around, he decided to change into his bed clothes. He was about to call it a day when a knock at the door startled him.

“Daniel?”

It was Vlad. What in the world was he doing knocking on his bedroom door this time of night? After momentarily debating on whether or not he should pretend he’s asleep, he decided to open the door. “What’s up?” he asked while studying the man’s face. 

Vlad’s brows were furrowed, and he wore a slight frown. He seemed concerned, but something about his gaze made him seem almost guarded. “Daniel, I understand you’re a teenager, and teenagers sometimes sneak out, but with that thing out there, you shouldn’t be risking your life like that.”

“I’m sorry… Err, you aren’t going to tell my parents, are you?”

The man gently smiled at him. “Not this time. I think we can just leave this our little secret.” He then bid him a good night and disappeared down the hallway.

Somewhat unnerved, Danny closed the door and locked it. How in the world did Vlad know he snuck out?

\---------------------------------

Note: Another brief reference! If you’re not familiar with it, Centralia is a town a little east of Allentown in Pennsylvania and south of State Game Lands Number 58 (yes, it's called that). It was a mining town that’s been mostly abandoned due to a mine fire that doesn’t show signs of stopping. It’s part of the inspiration of the Silent Hill game series.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date and an interesting encounter
> 
> Minor edit to fix time frame on 7/16/20

The next morning, Danny warily made his way to breakfast. Vlad greeted him and showed him to a dining room where a buffet was waiting. According to the older man, his parents had already eaten and were now in the lab doing research.

After grabbing a plate, he decided he would ask about how he knew he snuck out when something about the décor caught his attention. Banners of green and gold hung from the ceiling. He vaguely remembered the Vlad mentioning his love of the team the Green Bay Packers and how he tended to decorate using the team’s colors, but it bothered Danny. Something about those colors unnerved him.

His plate slipped from his fingers as unwanted memories surfaced. Plasmius’ castle had similar decorations. Even Vlad’s dining room seemed to have a similar architecture and size as the other one. 

“Daniel, what’s wrong?” Was that Plasmius? It sounded like him. What was he going to do to avoid him this time?

A hand touched his shoulder, and Danny slapped it away and moved so his back was against the wall. Breathing heavily, he watched Vlad glance back and forth between him, the fallen plate, and the room. His brows were furrowed in confusion.

Chills ran down his spine. Why did he keep associating the two? Was Plasmius really that similar to Vlad? Did it have something to do with the ghostly chills Vlad now seemed to induce in him? 

Vlad’s eyes narrowed as he tried calling to him again. His voice still seemed to hold concern, but his stiff posture continued to set off alarms in Danny’s mind. Something was wrong with the situation, and he needed to escape.

After stammering some lame excuse, Danny ran from the room. As he ran to his room to grab his things, he tried texting Sam to let her know he was on the way.

xxxxxx

“So, why exactly did you decided I needed to be visited at such an ungodly time on a Sunday?” Sam demanded of Danny. He arrived before she finished getting ready and had patiently waited for her on her bed until she determined she was decent. They had Monday and Tuesday off due to some "in-service" something or other for the school faculty. 

He rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t think ten thirty is ‘ungodly,’ Sam.” When she glared at him, he raised his hands in defense. “I’m sorry, alright? I… I think I had a panic attack? For a moment, I thought Plasmius managed to take me back to his palace.”

Whatever lingering anger dissipated as she crossed the room and sat next to him. After a moment, she pulled him into a hug and just held him. Danny didn’t speak; he just rested his head on her shoulder and returned the hug.

She couldn’t be angry at him for this, and in honesty, it surprised her he hadn’t cracked earlier. Most of the people their age ostracized him because they found him unsettling, and the braver ones teased and mocked him due to a combination of that and his parents, so Danny made it a point to try to keep up appearances when stress or anxiety got to him. While she didn’t necessarily agree with it, she at least made sure he knew he could open up to her when he needed it. Sometimes men needed a good cry too.

When she felt a couple tears hit her shoulder, she just rubbed his back and let him get it out of his system. His skin held an unusual chill, as if he’d just been outside. She brushed it off as an oddity of his situation. Instead, she preoccupied herself with his scent. Whatever he used as a wash smelled like the air the night before a frost, and she appreciated the change. When he settled down some, she brought it up, much to his confusion. 

“Sam, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I fell asleep after I got back last night and was planning on a shower after breakfast, but you saw how that turned out,” he explained as he pulled back so he could look at her.

She gasped as there were a couple unusual changes to his features. His eyes were now glowing a dull green, and the few remaining damp spots held a luminescent sheen. “I guess your tears glow now.” 

He just swore and wiped at his face. His eyes faded back to their normal color.

Once he finished, she took his hand and smiled. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t care, and I know Tucker doesn’t either. Both of us are here for you. We’ll figure things out the best we can, alright?”

His eyes softened as he placed his free hand on hers. “If it’s okay with you, how about we go to that restaurant? My treat. I think we both need a distraction.” He then glanced down at himself before giving her a crooked smile, “Well, after I take a shower. I did get my ass handed to me last night, after all.”

“Did you seriously just make fun of yourself just to purposely ruin the moment?” She removed her hand from his before playfully pushing him off the bed. “Fine, go get your shower.”

…..

Although they settled on a lunch date, Sam thought it actually went well. Danny kept his promise and took her to the new vegan restaurant near the mall. Although he didn’t tend to like meat alternatives, he did try for her. He seemed to really enjoy the rosemary infused pasta he got, but he openly squirmed when Sam offered to let him try her tofu dish. He apologized and said the smell seemed to bother him. Although it was odd since she’d eaten similar dishes around him before without him reacting like that, she just shrugged it off. It wasn’t until later that she realized she tasted sage in the dish.

Was it possible the herb bothered him? If she thought about it, sage was often used as a banishment herb for spirits, and Danny was kind of a spirit now. That was a bit of a concern. What if he accidentally ate or brushed against a plant that could do damage to him? Maybe he could subconsciously tell which plants were an issue? 

Well, gardening and plants were her forte after all. She could do some research regarding which plants might harm him, and once she had a list, they could, hopefully, safely test them out. 

When she brought up her theory to Danny, he hummed thoughtfully as he considered it while they walked to the mall. “With everything else, I wouldn’t be too surprised. Now that I think about it, my tastes have changed some.”

“I’ve noticed you’ve gotten more adventurous with food,” she joked, remembering one of the recent milkshake concoctions he and Tucker made.

He wouldn’t look at her when he answered. “Yeah…”

She wondered what that meant and gently prodded for more information. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“Food just tastes kinda bland,” he reluctantly explained. “The stronger the flavor, the more I seem to be able to taste it. That dish I had today was one of the first things that kinda tasted normal in a while.”

“That’s interesting, but I’m glad things were normal for a little. I’ll do some digging for you to see what foods might seem more appealing to a ghost. Wow, that’s not something I ever thought I would say.”

Danny rubbed his neck as he thanked her. “I really do appreciate it, but you really don’t have to.”

“But I want to do this,” she insisted as they entered the mall. Before he could say anything else, she grabbed his hand and led him towards ‘Skulk and Lurk Books.’ “Something tells me the universe is going to keep throwing crap your way, so let me help with the little things.”

A few minutes later, they entered her favorite book store. Danny awkwardly stood near the counter as she explained to the shopkeeper what she wanted. After double checking something on his computer screen, the shopkeeper led her to section that mostly involved spell books.

When she raised an eyebrow, the shopkeeper smiled. “This will probably be your best bet. Some of the books explain why plants are chosen over others.”

She thanked the man and enlisted Danny’s help in sifting through the different books. After about fifteen minutes, Sam found one she deemed appropriate. Not only did it directly talk about different plants and their uses, there seemed to be a few protective spells. If they worked, maybe they could help her protect her loved ones, and if they didn’t work, at least she’d be able to help Danny. 

After purchasing it, she hummed happily as she and Danny left the store. She then decided to take a peek into one of her favorite clothing stores. While browsing, Danny innocently presented her with a small box that held a pair of bat shaped earrings she ogled when they entered the store. In his hand, she could see the tip of a receipt. Touched by gesture, she took it and promised she’d put them on as soon as they left the store.

“So…” she started once they exited the store, and her new earrings were in their place, “are we official now?”

“That’s up to you,” he told her as he gestured to a coffee shop. “I mean, with everything going on right now and how I seem to be attracting everything supernatural and dangerous right now, I don’t want to accidently be the reason why you get hurt. But, I know it’s not my place to make that decision for you, so it’s your call.”

She kissed him on the cheek. When he stared as he gently touched the area, she beamed at him. “Thank you. I know you’re worried and have every reason to be, but we don’t have to rush things. Let’s just take it day by day for now, and if things start getting really crazy again, we can put things on hold.”

His eyebrows almost disappeared into his bangs. “And having a murderous paranormal creature on the loose isn’t crazy?”

“It’s not as crazy as being spirited away into a parallel dimension.”

xxxx

Although the morning started off terribly, but the evening, Danny decided it had overall been a good day. Sam seemed content at his side. A warm feeling floated around his chest, though he wasn’t certain if those were good feelings or something in his core. Frostbite did mention in passing while they were traveling to Clockwork’s place about feelings and it could affect his core, but there was too much else going on at the time. 

Since the sun was starting to set, he decided it would be a good idea to walk Sam home. That thing and Plasmius were both on the loose, and he didn’t think Sam’s parents would be too thrilled with him if she returned home when it was completely dark. Although, if he was honest, her parents weren’t thrilled with him in general. 

A few blocks away from Sam’s home, a cold chill ran up his back forcing him to stop in his tracks. As his breath misted, Sam tried to ask him what was wrong. It didn’t feel the same as Plasmius or the thing, but it didn’t mean whatever he sensed wasn’t equally as dangerous. 

“I AM THE BOX GHOST!” something shouted from his left. Both he and Sam turned just in time to watch a translucent blue blur race by them. “I WILL NOT BE TRAPPED BY YOUR CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER!”

Dumbfounded, Danny just stood there processing what just happened. Seconds later, his parents drove by in the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle. His dad was driving while his mother hung out one of the windows holding something that looked like a soup thermos.

“We should follow them”

“Huh?” He glanced over at Sam, who seemed to be almost vibrating with excitement. “Why?”

“Don’t you want to know what that was?”

“I’m assuming the Box Ghost.”

She rolled her eyes before grabbing his arm and marching forwards. “Come on! I want to see what happens!”

“Okay, but if we find ourselves in the world of the dead again, I blame you.”

After a few blocks, they found Danny’s parents outside of their vehicle in a stalemate with what was obviously a ghost. The self-proclaimed Box Ghost looked fairly human, save for his bluish color tones. His outfit reminded Danny of old warehouse or factory workers.

“Mads, do you have the Fenton Thermos working yet?” Danny’s dad called out as he levied what appeared to be a bazooka at the ghost.

His mother fiddled with the device. “Not yet. I know our calculations are right, but I can’t figure out why the power source keeps failing.”

The Box Ghost laughed at them. What appeared to be fifty or more cardboard boxes floated behind him. “I AM THE BOX GHOST! I HAVE POWER OVER ALL CONTAINERS CARDBOARD AND SQUARE! PUNY HUMANS, TREMBLE BEFORE ME! BEWARE!”

The absurdity of the situation ended up being too much for Danny. He snorted before remarking, “And what’s the worst you can do? Give me a paper cut?”

Silence filled the area as everyone stared at him. Then, chaos erupted. His parents were screaming. The ghost yelled something about punishment. The boxes flew towards him. Sam tugged on his arm. The next thing he knew, Sam shoved the thermos his mother had into his hands.

On a whim, he held the strange metal thermos towards the ghost, expecting nothing to happen. However, a beam of blue light erupted from it and hit the ghost. Seconds later, in a Ghost Busters-like scene, the ghost was sucked into the thermos.

Dumbfound at the result and how the cardboard boxes just fell to the ground once the ghost disappeared, he looked around for some sort of explanation.

“Good going, Danny!” his dad called as he and his mother raced over. “Knew you had it in you!”

“Young man, what in the world were you doing here?” his mother demanded as she took the thermos from him. After a moment of examining it, she muttered, “Huh? It’s showing full functionality now. We couldn’t get it to work no matter what we did.”

Sam answered for him. “We happened to see both you and the ‘Box Ghost’,” she mimicked its way of speaking, making him chuckle, “fly past, and I wanted to see what would happen. I wasn’t expecting this one to decide to be funny at the worst possible moment.”

“Seriously? He was trying to fight with cardboard boxes. There’s no way I can consider something like that a threat.” When his mother scowled at him, he changed tactics. “Anyways, how did all this happen, and what exactly is that thermos?”

“It’s the Fenton Thermos, patent pending!” his dad proudly announced. “We created it as a containment device so we can capture ghosts and other paranormal creatures until we can find a way to either destroy the dangerous ones or find a way to prevent the natural gateways from opening.”

“Does that include the portal in the basement?”

“It’s currently off-line. As much as we want to continue studying it, we don’t want another one of those things using it as a tunnel into the house.” His mother pulled the hood on her hazmat suit off and fluffed her hair. “As for what happened, we were trying to update one of our scanners when we got a larger than average blip so we went to investigate. We found the ghost, shot at it with some of our prototypes, and it ran.”

“I can’t wait to study it!”

“Study it how, Mr. Fenton?” Sam asked. There seemed to be an edge to her voice. If Danny had to guess, her activism somehow got activated, but he wasn’t sure why.

“Right now? We don’t really have the equipment to do much else other than scan its energy levels and get a base reading on its components. I’d like to get a sample of its ectoplasm, but we don’t currently have a containment system appropriate for that. This will also give us an idea of what the thermos can and can’t handle.”

Oh, that’s what it was. Sam wanted to make sure the studies weren’t inhuman. It made sense. The ghosts they’d previous encountered were definitely sentient, but not necessarily rationale.

“Anyways, Sam, you probably want to head home. It’s getting pretty late.” His mother mentioned as his dad headed back to the Ghost Assault Vehicle. “I’ll see you back at Vlad’s, Danny. Please make sure you check in with him. He said you had a panic attack this morning and is worried about you.”

“Sure thing…” He really tried to stop himself from grimacing.

When his parents were out of earshot, Sam irritably told him to make sure nothing too horrid happened to that ghost. While he seemed like an annoyance and possibly evil, first impressions were often wrong. He promised he’d keep an eye on things as they restarted their journey to Sam’s house. 

\------------------------------------------

The frosty scent – well, winter and frost/ice are associated with death, and since Danny is still alive and not rotting, frosty scent works.

Rosemary is said to have the ability to ward off evil spirits, but is also used in some funerals and war commemorations as a symbol for remembrance. Due to Danny’s ghostliness and decisive not evilness, I decided he would be attracted to the plant.

Sage, on the other hand, is used in banishment rituals for the good and the bad. So, he’s more wary of it. Interestingly, I’ve heard it’s possible to accidentally trap spirits if smudging is incorrectly done.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lull and some science

Chapter 19

After Danny saw Sam home, he hesitantly returned to Vlad’s mansion. He probably stared at the door for at least five minutes before he built up the courage to finally to enter. 

Once he was in the foyer, he debated with himself for a few minutes on whether or not he should immediately return to his room or see if he could find a snack. As much as he didn’t want to run into Vlad, it was late, and he could really use a sandwich or something. Food won out, so he made his way to the kitchen.

“Daniel!” Chills ran up his spine as he turned to see Vlad appearing from a different room. His expression seemed genuinely concerned, but there was something about his eyes where narrowed and calculating. He walked slowly towards him, but instead of being reassuring, it felt almost predatory. “You had me worried when you just ran out this morning. I tried calling you, but when you didn’t answer, I assumed you must have been angry with me.”

Vlad had called him? He didn’t remember getting anything other than a few texts from Sam, Tucker, and his mother. “I… err… sorry about that. I just got reminded of what happened… and freaked.” His call history didn’t show evidence of anything. “I didn’t get any calls today.”

“Oh?” Vlad glanced at his own phone. “Perhaps I didn’t dial it correctly. My apologies for not following up.”

Danny had to suppress a snort. Who actually dials anymore? Actually, that raised a different question. Was Vlad possibly lying? The man had a modern phone, so it seemed unlikely the man would have misdialed since, knowing his parents, they had given Vlad his number years ago. But why would he lie about something so simple?

As he mulled over the idea, his mother appeared. “Hi, Sweetie! Did your date with Sam go well?”

“Mommmm……” he complained as she tried to give him a hug. “But for you information, I think it went great.”

She giggled, “To be young again. I see the two of you seem to be getting along.”

“But of course, my dear,” Vlad explained with a slight flourish of the hand. “Daniel explained his reaction this morning hadn’t been intentional. Something reminded him of his terrible experience, and in my haste to check on him, I seem to have misdialed his number. Although, I do have to wonder what exactly caused such a reaction?” His light tone started to sound forced as his attention turned back towards Danny.

“Vlad!” his mother scolded. “You know how traumatic that must have been for Danny!”

“But Maddie, if I don’t know, how can I avoid accidentally causing the same reaction in the future?”

“It’s okay, Mom,” he interrupted, somewhat creeped out by Vlad’s words. His movements seemed more over the top than usual. “It just… something about the room reminded me of what happened. I think it was something about the colors. It’s nothing really.”

She didn’t immediately respond, opting to examine his face. Uncomfortable with her gaze, he glanced away. “Well, okay, if you’re sure. Anyways, Danny I had something I needed to discuss with you. Can you come down to the lab?”

“Sure? Can I grab a snack first?”

….

About twenty minutes later, Danny managed to find his way to the lab. It was something else. Compared to the lab his parents built in the basement, this one was at least three times as large and different areas seemed to be set up for different tasks. Unlike his parents’ lab, there weren’t wires anywhere, and it seemed the walls were reinforced in a different manner. At the far end the room, there were closed doors which suspiciously looked like his parents’ portal, but the most glaring difference was the large bluish bubble in the middle of the room where the ‘Box Ghost’ was currently being held. The Box Ghost seemed to be shouting something, but the bubble muffled his voice. 

Trying to ignore the ghost, who was pounding on the bubble, he made his way over to his parents were tinkering with something on one of the work benches. “So, you needed to talk to me?”

“Dann-o!” his dad shouted. With obvious glee, he gave Danny one of his infamous bear hugs. “Your mom said your date went well! That’s my boy!”

“Jack, there will be time for that later,” his mother interrupted, allowing him to slip out of his dad’s grip. “There’s something else that’s we need to discuss. Danny, can you pull up a seat?”

It took a little bit of rooting around, but they eventually found a chair for him to use. He sat across from them and realized both his parents seemed unusually serious. “So, what’s up? Am I in trouble?”

“No, you’re not in trouble… it’s just…” His mother sighed. “I honestly don’t know how to approach this. Remember how we talked about how the incident might have changed you somehow?”

A gnawing fear appeared in the pit of his stomach. “Y-yeah…”

“Well, we hadn’t thought too much about it…”

“But here’s the thing Danny, that ghost from earlier,” his dad gestured to the trapped and still yelling Box Ghost, “called you a fellow ghost when we were transferring it to the holding container. Said it didn’t understand why you helped us.”

He glanced towards the Box Ghost, who seemed to be angrily gesturing to him, before turning back to his parents. “Heheh, that’s pretty weird.” This was the second ghost who seemed to recognize him as being inhuman upon sight. “But why would you be worried about that?”

“Sweetie,” his mother leaned forward while wearing a sad smile, “remember that talk we had after that thing broke into the house? About how you might have been changed somehow after you and your classmates were taken?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, your father and I are a bit concerned about it. If it’s okay with you, we’d like to do some tests…”

“Tests?” he squeaked, trying not to wince at the sudden higher pitch of his voice. “What kind of tests? Cuz I really don’t want those to include things that might result in me getting hurt.”

“Oh, nothing of the sort. Just normal tests, like what you’d see in the doctor’s office, but we are going to get a blood sample.” When he openly cringed, his mother admonished him. “Danny, I know this isn’t the most ideal thing, but we need to know if your body has been contaminated by something. Blood, saliva, and hair samples are the best for that.”

“Yeah, but if you happen to find something, who’s to say you aren’t going to end up doing something drastic to ‘fix’ it?” he demanded as he stood up, knocking his chair over. “How many times have you talked about wanting to experiment on and possibly dissect paranormal creatures? If you’re telling me you think something otherworldly happened, I need to know… you absolutely need to promise me you aren’t going to do anything like that if you find something.” His eyes burned from the threat of tears. 

From the time he first faced his parents after returning from the world of the dead, a nagging fear their scientific side might outweigh their parental side would surface from time to time. His mother did a decent job of reassuring him the night that Collector attacked, but that was before his parents decided to confront him about him in a laboratory. 

“Oh! Oh… Sweetie, come here,” his mother pulled him into a hug, and his father joined in. She gently ran her hand through is hair like she used to do when he was small. “We would never hurt you. We just want to know what, if anything is wrong… and if it is, what precautions we might need to take to make sure you stay safe.”

“Yeah, Danny! You shouldn’t worry about a thing! We’ll keep you safe from ghosts, spooks, specters, and any other type of phantom.” He smiled brightly as he stood up and grabbed a bunch of things Danny couldn’t identify. “But, if your trips into that other realm did somethin’ to you, I don’t want anything I made to accidentally hurt you.”

He pulled away from her and looked between her and his dad. Their expressions seemed genuine; no hostility, just concern. Should he tell them? Or should he keep quiet? “I…” his mouth felt dry as he tried to continue. “Well… fine… go ahead, but I want to know that you’ll stop if…”

“We don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, so just give us the word if you need us to stop,” his mother told him, and he agreed.

Over the course of the next hour, his mother ran normal tests to check his vitals while his father bounced back and forth between different inventions and writing down the information his mother relayed to him. According to his mother, his reflexes appeared normal, but, like what was seen in the hospital, his temperature, respiration, and blood pressure were all lower than expected. 

“Hmm… everything still lines up with that the doctors saw when you were hospitalized,” she confirmed with a sigh. “I’ll admit I hoped you vitals might return to normal overtime, but it looks like that won’t be happening. Now, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to get some sort of sample. Blood would be best…” When he grimaced, she put down the note pad she was using and gave him a reassuring smile. “Sweetie, remember, I told you that you don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with. If you want us to stop, we can stop.”

“I… I…” he stammered as he glanced around the room. He took a deep breath and summoned his courage. Just like any normal teen, there were things he wanted to keep from his parents, but this seemed so much bigger than keeping silent about being bullied or hiding those forsaken magazines Tucker attempted to pawn off on him. As much as he thought of Tucker as a brother, he had weird tastes. 

“I’m okay with hair and spit samples, just no blood. Not yet anyways. I want to think about that one.” It was true. Actually, he wanted to test that himself first anyways because a nagging concern that he might no longer bleed red kept creeping into his mind. If that was the case, he wanted to be sure of that first. 

He also wanted to take the time to debate with how much to tell his parents. If they found something, he’d have to come clean about some aspects of what happened to him, but how much they needed to know would be the question. Heck, he barely understood the changes to his body.

His mother gave him a pat on the shoulder as she stood to take the samples. “Thanks, Sweetie. It shouldn’t take more than a few days to get the results,” she explained as she placed the samples on the work desk after labeling them. 

“Sure thing.” He glanced back towards the bubble. “So, what are you going to do with him?”

“Him? Oh, you mean the ghost?” His dad excitedly appeared at his side and pushed him forward towards it. “Right now, we’re just studying it. Getting energy levels and getting an idea of stability. Since we don’t have the equipment, we can’t do much else other than that. Right now, he’s a great test case for the Fenton Ecto-Bubble.”

“What are you going to do after that?”

“We hadn’t gotten that far,” his dad admitted as he scratched his head.

“Couldn’t you just release him back to his home dimension or something? I mean, if all he can do is throw boxes…”

His mother hummed thoughtfully from behind him. “You’re not wrong. Compared to the other entities that might be stalking the area, it isn’t that big of a threat. The creature that attacked you may also be of a completely different constitution than this ghost. I guess it wouldn’t to release it after we get our data, as long as we don’t find evidence it’s a bigger threat than we initially thought.”

Danny nodded. After meeting Ember, Frostbite, and Clockwork, his preconceived notions regarding ghosts changed. Even though the Box Ghost seemed like he was probably the most annoying creature in existence, with the exception of the raccoon that kept trying to destroy the backyard, he hadn’t done anything to warrant being harmed. However, he was hesitant to let his parents know that. 

“Ah, there you are!” 

Danny jumped at Vlad’s words. He turned to see the man move towards them. A muffled squeal brought his attention back to the Box Ghost, who had moved as far away as possible from Vlad. It almost appeared as if he was frightened.

“You’ve been down here for some time, and I wanted to double check everything was fine.”

“Vladdie!”

“Oh, we must have lost track of time!” his mother sheepishly mentioned. “We were just checking Danny’s vitals. We wanted to see if anything had changed since he had been released from the hospital. Oh, but it’s a school night, isn’t it?”

“Awww, come on, Maddie! I think Danny’s earned a day off from school. I mean, he’s been attacked by two different spooks and had to leave that hotel because of that weird fire over the course of one weekend.” His dad clapped him on the shoulder which nearly knocked him down.

His mother scowled at both of them as she pursed her lips. “Fine. Just one day though. I’ll call the school in the morning to let them know you’ll be missing due to our circumstances. Make sure you text Sam and Tucker so one of them can pick up your school work.”

“YES!” He gave his mother a quick hug. “Best mom ever!” Deciding he no longer needed to be in the room, he ran out of the lab and back towards the room. He didn’t miss the strange look Vlad sent him as he passed him. 

A few moments later, Danny collapsed on his bed and reflected about the day. After every strange thing that happened, he finally managed to go on a successful date, and he managed to get a day off of school. Having an extra day to sleep sounded amazing. 

After a quick texting session with Sam and Tucker, he decided a shower sounded wonderful. After taking a bit longer than usual, he made his way back to his bedroom to retire early. However, as soon as he crossed the threshold, a shiver ran down his spine and his breath misted in front of him. Something seemed off, as if everything suddenly stilled. A strange weight appeared on his chest, and he looked down to find a medallion around his neck. 

“Daniel.” He turned around to find Clockwork floating in the hallway. “My apologies for taking so long to contact you. We have much to talk about.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit more background and a warning of possible things to come
> 
> Warning: there are some graphic descriptions of death in this chapter

“Err… while I’m happy to finally get some answers, I don’t particularly think this is the best place to talk. My parents are ghost hunters, and they’re in the basement or something,” Danny hurriedly explained as he glanced down the hallway.

Clockwork smiled as he shifted to his elderly form. “I appreciate your concern, but there is no need to worry. I temporarily stopped time with my abilities. The medallion around your neck is imbued with my energy. Wearing it allows you to function while time is stopped, allowing us to have a conversation without worrying about outside distractions.”

“Really?” He glanced down at the medallion. “I guess we don’t have to worry about anything then. So, come on in? Sorry I don’t really have much of anything since this isn’t my house, but make yourself at home.”

A few moments later, Danny found himself sitting backwards on the chair for the antique-looking desk Vlad decided his temporary bedroom needed. Clockwork floated in a sitting position in the approximate center of the room. The ghost had shifted to his child form.

“So, you said we have a lot to talk about?”

The ghost nodded and sighed as he changed to his adult form. “Since our last meeting, the entire realm has been in disarray. The Fright Knight, the ghost who attacked your friends as they escaped, has begun laying siege to large sections of the ghost zone.” After fiddling with the staff he carried, he waved it which caused what almost appeared to be some sort of screen to appear, similar to the mirrors in his lair. Images flashed on it showing a ghostly knight with a skeleton army. “In the past, the Fright Knight, once known as Samhain, swore allegiance to the tyrant Pariah Dark.”

“Wait, isn’t Samhain an old word for Halloween or something? And ghosts have tyrants? I think you briefly mentioned a king before.” Glancing towards the desk after rubbing his forehead, he vaguely entertained the idea of taking notes. Actually, that was probably a good idea. Sam would probably kill him if he didn’t. “Can you give me a sec? I need to go find paper.”

“You can find what you need in the second drawer of that desk.”

“Thanks?” He had to suppress a shiver as Clockwork’s statement turned out to be correct. It was unsettling in an uncanny way. After settling into a more comfortable position and jotting down the Fright Knight’s name, he motion for Clockwork to continue.

The ghost, now in his elderly form, inclined his head. “The barriers between my world and yours used to be much thinner. Those of us who have existed since that time became associated with either concepts or old traditions. The Fright Knight once acted as a guardian of souls who crossed over during the old feast, and ended up adopting the name of that very feast.” Images of what appeared to be a ghostly Celtic warrior appeared in the screen he created. “As time passed, the continuing corruption of the realm of the dead and how the perceptions of All Hallows changed, so did the Fright Knight. However, what truly turned him into a terror was an entirely different force.”

The image changed to a frightening warrior with fiery hair and one eye fighting a variety of people and creatures. “This is the human warrior who eventually became spirit known as Pariah Dark.” Clockwork shifted forms again. “His allies and enemies were in so in awe of him, that his image would influence how some of their gods and heroes were depicted. Upon his death,” the image changed to the warrior being struck from the shadows, “his desire for power and his perceived insult of how he died, drew him to the world of ghosts as opposed to true death.”

The living warrior from before was replaced with an imposing ghostly figure. “Normally, it takes centuries for a ghost to gain the power Pariah did, but he began gaining strength and followers within a few short years. After first, it was believed his followers were warped by existing corruption and their own fervor, but the true catalyst was Pariah’s power. Luckily, it only seemed to affect those who willing submitted to him, but it was enough.” Images of ghosts becoming warped and grotesque flashed on the screen. 

Back in his child form, Clockwork sighed as the image turned to show the Fright Knight swearing allegiance to Pariah. Seconds later, it showed the two, plus several others, leaning over a map of some kind. It reminded Danny of movie depictions of a war room.

“Pariah began his conquest of the dead. However, he found he lacked the strength needed to fight against some of the most powerful and ancient of ghosts. As a result, his followers employed a number of tactics to help boost his strength.” Scenes of something being forged flickered before showing a crown and ring. “The crown of fire and ring of rage – items created to focus and enhance Pariah’s strength. However, this is not the only thing that was done.” The image changed to ghosts being warped into creatures that looked like the Collectors and Recruiters.

“Wait a second,” Danny interrupted. “Aren’t those…?”

Clockwork nodded. “These creatures tried to abduct the living, much like how you were once lured way. However, the humans taken were sacrificed to Pariah, in an attempt to make him stronger.”

The pen slipped from Danny’s fingers. “What… what do you mean by that? Are you saying he ate them or something?”

“Do you remember why your classmates were targeted?”

“Frostbite said they were attacked for their blood.” Ice suddenly seem to flood Danny’s veins. “Oh god, are you telling me they were killed for their…?” He couldn’t say it.

Instead of immediately answering, Clockwork, now in his adult form, gestured to the screen. Horrific images of people being killed in bloody and ritualistic ways. Some were sliced open and drained of blood. Others had their hearts removed. There were even ones which were more grisly. When he had more than enough, the image changed to show ghosts of the people killed being warped into strange figures reminiscent of skeletons.  
“As you can see, Pariah and his followers found more than one use for the people they took. They ended up forming the army the Fright Knight used in campaigns to subjugate weaker ghosts in areas controlled by either one of the ancients or a different ghost strong enough to have followers. Anyone left standing would find themselves fighting either the Fright Knight or Pariah himself.” Clockwork paused the image as his form shifted again. 

It took a few moments for Danny to speak as his mouth had gone dry. “Are you telling me that this Pariah guy is back? How do you even fight something like that?” He ran his hands over his face, noting his skin felt cold and clammy. Great, was he starting to go into shock? He wouldn’t be surprised if that happened.

“No, as of now he is still sealed away.” The image changed to show another battle. This time it showed Pariah being subdued and thrown into some sort of casket. “Pariah was eventually defeated due to the combination of the strongest ghosts who were not under his control distracting him while a small group of Ancients managed to create what is now known as the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. Once he was sealed, myself along with the others who were still standing, were able to also seal the Fright Knight and the route the remainder of Pariah’s forces.” Clockwork sighed again. “My allies hoped Pariah would be sealed for the rest of time. I knew it was possible he would return, so the remainder of us set a number of precautions to make it as unlikely as possible.”

Danny let out a shaky breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “I can hear the ‘but’.”

“As of right now, we are not certain whether or not Pariah will be released. We know that there are forces at work trying to either release him or steal his abilities. Either senario has the possibility to bring about destruction across my realm and yours. This is evident in the reemergence of the Fright Knight and the forbidden techniques used to recreate Collectors and Recruiters. However, thousands of different paths are possible within the next several months that I cannot be certain which will be taken. I will do my best to help guide my allies to the best possible outcome.”

“Does that mean I’m somehow going to be involved in this?”

“Possibly. Possibly not. All will be revealed in time, but I have no wish for you to be involved in that battle if it comes to pass.”

“Great, just great!” Danny snapped as he jumped to his feet. “You’re telling me the ghost version of the antichrist either might or might not be released. Those Recruiter and Collector things are already here. I saw the aftermath of a murder! Do you realize that? The reason I’m even here and not in my own house is because I was attacked in my own house!” He paced as he ranted. “I have these weird abilities now, so I should be able to protect myself, but I can’t. I can’t even figure out how to do the most basic things.”

He stopped his pacing and leaned against the desk. “I had a feeling things were bad on your end when you said whatever was controlling the Recruiters found blind spots in your abilities. Do you realize I’m just a teenager?” His hands fell to his sides. “I don’t want involved in any of this.”

Clockwork passive expression softened some as he shifted forms again. “Daniel, I came to you so you would be aware of the possibilities. Myself, Frostbite and his people, Pandora and her court, along with many others are doing our best to stop Pariah’s awakening. For now, I would recommend focusing on strengthening your abilities.”

“And… and how am I supposed to do that? It’s not like there is a manual or anything for this.” Most of his anger left replaced with concern and, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, fear.

“That choice lies with you.”

Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, he mulled over his options. Sam and Tucker had already helped him figure out how to change forms, and they already knew everything regarding what happened to him. However, they were just as in the dark as he was regarding what he could and couldn’t do. His parents were paranormal experts, but they tended to view most paranormal entities as negative. And while he knew they knew something was off regarding him, he still wasn’t sure how much he should or shouldn’t tell them. There was Plasmius, who had an uncanny interest in him with the matching ability of finding him anywhere. And, last but not least were ghosts like Frostbite and Ember.

Plasmius was already a big no, and as of now, so were his parents. Frostbite was probably busy with whatever needed to be done to stop Pariah Dark, and Ember said she often had trouble traveling to the living world. That left his friends. “While I’d like another ghost to be able to show me what’s normal regarding what a ghost can and can’t do, that’s probably difficult for that to happen at the moment. I guess my friends and I have training to do.”

Clockwork inclined his head. “I wish I had the ability to be of more direct help to you, but I am often limited in my options. Frostbite has more direct means of being able to reach the living world and will be sending you regular updates from now on. As for me, I shall take my leave.” Tapping his staff, he yelled, “Time in!”

A whirlwind of power rushed through the room forcing Danny to raise his arms in protection. “Hey! Don’t think you can just…” When the rush died down, he glanced around to see he was the only person in the room. Even the medallion he had been wearing was gone. “… leave. Just great. He gives me that bombshell and just leaves.” Sighing, he found the sheet of paper he had been using for notes. “I should probably text Sam and Tucker now while everything is still bouncing around my head. Knowing me, I’ll forget something if I don’t.”

….

Several text messages and a few voicemails greeted Danny when he woke up around eleven. After replying to a couple, he decided to brave a trip to the kitchen. Luckily for him, Vlad was nowhere to be found. Glad he would be able to eat in peace, he found a spot in the dining room where he wouldn’t be as visible from the hall to eat his cereal. 

“DANNY! There you are!”

His spoon flew out of his hand from jumping at the suddenness of his dad’s booming voice. After a quick round of fumbling the spoon in hopes of grabbing it again, the darn thing slid through his hand. It didn’t just slide through his fingers – it somehow slid through his palm before hitting the side of the bowl.

“Sorry, Sweetie.” His mother appeared from behind his dad and returned his spoon to him before sitting down next to him. After laying a few papers down, she gently grabbed the hand the spoon somehow passed through and examined it. He had to repress an involuntary shiver at the feel of her gloves. 

Danny quickly removed his hand as he glanced at his dad, who took a seat across the table. “What’s up?”

“We got the preliminary results of your tests back!”

“Okay, and?” When his parents’ expressions fell, dread began to gnaw at him. “Right. Something tells me I should be worried.”

His mother took his hand again. “Remember, Danny, this is just a preliminary result. We are going to recalibrate and run them again as a precaution later today before running more advanced tests on your samples. But we’ve found evidence of ecto-contamination.”

He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “Is that it? Our house sits on top of a laboratory with a portal to who knows where. Our food sometimes gets contaminated and spontaneously comes to life. You do know that’s not normal, right?”

“Mmmm…. Ecto-wennies…” His father grinned sheepishly at the glare his wife sent his way. “Right. We’d expect a low level of it for people who are in the house a lot. Your mom and I definitely have much higher levels than an average person, even with all of our precautions.”

“But, we regularly check our contamination levels to make sure they stay well within safe ranges,” his mother finished. “But Danny, your levels are abnormal. And from what we can tell, it’s not the same type you’d get from ambient exposure. It’s more like what you’d see from an actual ghost… actually, that might be what finally got the Fenton Thermos to work.” She rubbed her chin as she considered it.

Danny just waved it off. “You said it yourself. Something changed after my abduction, but you can see I’m perfectly fine.” As he tried to deflect the conversation, he again asked himself why he was so desperate to keep the truth hidden from his parents. They could possibly help him, but the nagging voice in the back of his mind kept showering him with ‘what ifs’. “On top of that, you already said you want to retest my samples. Why are we even talking about this before that?”

His mother sighed. “You’re right. We should have double checked our results before we came to you.”

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. “So,” Danny started in hopes of breaking it, “make any headway with stopping that thing that broke into our house?” 

It seemed to be the right thing to say as his father’s eyes lit up. He launched into a lengthy, excited, and somewhat roundabout explanation of their current results. As he explained that their capture and containment inventions had great initial results, but they needed some more testing to see if it would be able to hold the creature terrorizing the town.

For a moment, the normality of the situation helped Danny forget about his worries for a while.

…

Danny’s afternoon was spent at Sam’s house as a combination of having Sam and Tucker help him catch up on his missed school work while giving them a summary of what happened with the Box Ghost and Clockwork. Saying that both were upset at the news was an understatement. 

“You’re telling me that an insane power-hungry ghost might be released, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it? Is there a reason we’re not panicking? Or trying to do something?” Tucker ranted with a raised voice and wild eyes.

“It’s not like we can safely enter that world,” Sam snapped, as she tapped the notebook in her hands. “Besides, who’d believe us?”

“It also might not happen,” Danny irritably reminded him.

“Yeah, but unlike you, we can’t defend ourselves,” Tucker countered.

“Excuse me? I can’t do a damn thing! Whatever I am now,” Danny triggered his transformation into his ghostly form, “didn’t come with any type of manual. I don’t know what I can do or how to figure that out. It’s not like I can ask another ghost to help me.”

“What about the Box Ghost.”

“You mean the ghost currently trapped in Vlad’s laboratory under constant supervision from Danny’s parents?” Sam deadpanned.

“At least I’m trying to think of things!”

She gave him an evil smile. “If you’re so convinced we need to do something to give us a fighting chance, why don’t I help get you guys in shape? It’s at least a start.”

Tucker back peddled immediately. “Nononono! That’s okay. I mean, it’s not like this we know this will happen with absolute certainty.”

“You’re the one who just spent the last half hour freaking out about not being prepared.”

After closing his text book to catch his friends’ attention, Danny sighed. “I actually think I agree with Sam on this. It couldn’t hurt. We don’t have to do anything too insane – seriously Sam, neither of us are anywhere near as athletic as you. You need to go easy on us.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll make an exercise plan tailored to wimps.”

Tucker turned to Danny and grimaced. “She’s seriously going to try to kill us, isn’t she?” 

\---------------------------------------------

Just as a reminder, the Fright Knight is also the spirit of Halloween in DP lore. 

So, Pariah Dark. I was double checking some of the background of him, and realized that he was partially inspired by Odin from Norse mythology. However, after looking a few other things, I discovered there is a person from both Germanic and Norse mythology (Hagen/Hogni) who was a prolific warrior who was missing an eye, so this helped influence the explanation of his origin. Interestingly, one of the Celtic gods of death, Cernunnos, is also depicted as being horned. 

And I realized that I screwed up some time frames. Chapter 12 – 20 all occur within a few days of each other. I had to fix chapter 18 to make sure everything matched. 

Chapter 12: Danny stumbles upon attack Saturday morning  
Chapter 13: Conversation with Plasmius on Sunday morning  
Chapter 14: Attack by Collector very early Monday morning  
Chapter 15: all Monday  
Chapter 16: all Monday into very early Tuesday morning  
Chapter 17: very early Tuesday morning  
Chapter 18 - 19: Still Tuesday  
Chapter 20: Tuesday into Wednesday

I don’t know how common they are elsewhere, but my home state had in-service days, where the staff would be working, but the kids had a day off. This is how I’m fixing it.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of training and some troubling news
> 
> Quick announcements: I did have recent surgery which pushed back the chapter. I’m all healed up now and feeling a lot better. Also, I will be starting a new job in September and am uncertain how that will effect updates.

By the time November hit, there seemed to be a lull in activity. No new murders were reported, and the sightings of strange creatures dwindled. However, it did little to help the unease throughout the town. 

Danny’s family had returned to their home, and his parents were back at work with their project for the police. Last time he heard anything, they were about seventy percent finished. They no longer had the Box Ghost trapped. Although they found the ghost annoying, his parents verified he could barely be considered a threat so they returned him to the world beyond the veil with a promise they’d tear him apart ‘molecule by molecule’ if he caused any more mischief in the human world.

While his parents were focusing a great deal of their energy on their projects, it was clear they wanted to talk to him about something. Most likely, that something was his test results, and Danny did not want to have that conversation. So, he did what any normal teenager did, avoid his parents like the plague. However, he wouldn’t be able to continue doing that for much longer. Judging by some of the texts he recently got from his sister, his parents were about to ask her to intervene, and he really didn’t want that to happen.

With the exception of school and school work, most of his free time became consumed by training. Sam, true to her words, created training regimens for both him and Tucker. The early part of the training focused on increasing their stamina, but more recently, strength and reflex training had been added. Danny could already see some results in the form of new muscles, but it was more apparent in his ghost form. He wasn’t tiring as easily when he attempted to train his still largely unknown abilities. 

However, he now had some hints on what he could do on a basic level. During one of his training sessions with his friends in a secluded area of the local park (found by Sam), Ember paid him a surprise visit. After introducing her to his friends, she revealed she had brought her boyfriend, a hulking metal ghost thing that went by Skulker. While she gave him some pointers on the basic ghostly abilities and how to access them, Skulker just stared at him.

Eventually, he couldn’t take it. “Look, I know I’m strange, but could you not stare? I’m really getting creeped out.”

The thing grinned at him. “Halfas like you are rare, and I enjoy hunting the rare and exotic.” When Ember shot him a dirty glare, he somewhat backtracked. After a slight cough, he added, “However, as you are right now, you’re barely a challenge. As much as it annoys me, I’ll wait until you’re better trained. Besides, I have other targets more pressing at the moment.”

“Get those thoughts out of your head,” Ember scolded. “Clockwork and Frostbite of the Far Frozen both have their eyes on him. I’ve been hearing rumors Pandora wants to meet him.”

“Pandora? You’re kidding!” Skulker menacingly grinned again. “You must have some potential, whelp. It’s rare to hear of any of the elder ghosts taking interest in such a young ghost, let alone one that’s still somewhat alive.”

As Danny grimaced again, he heard Tucker whisper to Sam, “Are we really sure this guy won’t gut us?”

Sam rolled her eyes and elbowed him. “Sorry to interrupt. Who’s Pandora? Does she have something to do with the old Greek legend?”

Ember hummed thoughtfully as she floated in a sitting position. “I guess it can’t hurt to take a quick break. No, dipstick, a break didn’t mean you could stop floating.”

Danny just sighed as he picked his feet back off the ground and tried to find a comfortable position, eventually settling for resting as if he was reading something on a bed, only three feet off the ground. While floating and flying was slowly becoming more comfortable, it still drained him after a while. Ember promised it should become more natural as he became stronger. 

“So, Pandora. She’s one of the most powerful ghosts still in existence in the Zone. Never met her personally, but I’ve been past her domain. It looks like it’s straight out of a history book about Rome or Greece,” Ember explained. 

Skulker nodded. “No one in their right mind messes with her. Rumor says she has a box containing either power or something dangerous. No one is really sure.”

“Didn’t you once try to investigate on account of that mysterious employer of yours?”

“Well… that’s…” The metallic ghost somehow managed to blush before coughing to try to cover it up. “Pandora personally chased me off.”

After a moment, Sam sighed which caught everyone’s attention. “So I guess you guys don’t have enough information to know either way. I guess I just wanted to know if it was possible some of the old legends might have some truth, you know? I think I remember seeing her when we were rescued from… what did you say he’s called Danny? The Fright Knight or something?” 

He nodded as he shifted in the air to a more normal sitting position. “Yeah, that’s what Clockwork called him, and I remember Frostbite saying Pandora helped rescue you guys.”

“The situation really must be serious if some of our strongest are protecting humans,” Skulker huffed.

“Speaking of which,” Ember glanced at him, “did you happen to do any research on those Wraith things like I asked?”

The robot somehow made a sour expression. “I did. My contacts on the black market…”

“Wait, ghosts have a black market?” When everyone stared at him, Tucker immediately raised his hands defensively. “Sorry! It’s not like us humans know anything about it.”

“Yes, and it’s much like yours, only more exotic.” The grin which crossed Skulker’s face sent chills down Danny’s spine. “Not only is it great for finding rare supplies, but it has an extensive information network. I’m what you would consider a regular.” He paused for a moment, possibly for effect. “About a month ago, reports of Wraiths near some of the areas where natural portals tend to form more frequently were all over the place. Myself and some likeminded individuals went hunting, and thinned their numbers. However, there were always more to take their place.”

Trying to ignore the implications of what Skulker mentioned about the ghostly black market, he instead focused on a different aspect of what the hunter mentioned. “You said that was about a month ago? What about now? And how do you stop those things?”

“That’s the weird thing. Now we can’t find evidence of the damn things.” He almost sounded bitter about it. “I’m a hunter! It’s my job, my passion, to hunt and track my targets. There shouldn’t be anything I can’t find.” 

Ember patted his shoulder, and he just huffed. “You know how the Zone is. It’s possible they’re just hiding in a remote place for now, and as far as I care, they can just stay there.”

“I should still be able to find evidence of them if that’s the case.”

“Well, Clockwork said someone was able to hide the recruiters from his powers, so maybe this same person can hide those things to. Oh… oh shit!” When Danny tried shifting positions again, he reverted back to his human form and face planted. “I thought I was finally done doing that!” When Tucker laughed, he childishly threw a clod of dirt at him.

Ember openly laughed until he pouted at her. “I guess that means we’re done for the day. I don’t know too much about how your body works, but I’d bet you’re running low on energy.”

“Good, I’d like to get back to hunting those abominations down.”

“Err… you never said how to get rid of those things,” Tucker mentioned before Danny had a chance.

“Unless you blast through the head or center of the chest, you can’t.”

After moments of stunned silence, Sam jumped to her feet and shouted, “But… but that’s murder!”

Skulker sneered at her. “You can’t murder a ghost. You end them, but you should save your pity. Wraiths are abominations – spirits warped into that shape with dark magic. Most of us consider it a form of mercy to end one.”

Sam clearly wanted to argue more as her inner activist started to activate. Not wanting her to get into it with a potentially dangerous ghost, Danny quickly stepped between them. 

Ember seemed to have a similar line of thought and grabbed her boyfriend. After some berating him for stooping low enough to want to argue with humans, she said her goodbyes with a promise to try to visit again soon and flew off with Skulker, who just grumbled.

“Why did you stop me?” Sam demanded once she was sure Ember and Skulker were out of earshot. 

“Firstly, do you really want to pick a fight with a ghost that you have no hope of winning against if he decided he suddenly wanted to attack you?” he snapped at her as he brushed dirt off his shirt. “Secondly, as much as I hate to admit it, but he’s right. Those things are unnatural, and that’s saying something coming from me.”

“So you think they should just be destroyed?”

“Sam, Clockwork told me how they are made.” When she stilled, he knew he had her attention. “Yeah, they’re made… by killing people and warping… I think their souls into that form. Can you really say it’s better to let them remain like that?”

“Isn’t there a way to fix that? To save them?” Her voice cracked as she lowered her gaze.

“I don’t know,” he admitted as he let some of his irritation fade. “That’s why I asked Skulker. I don’t know. Ghosts are like… a manifestation of a soul, or something like that. I’m not sure if I completely understood Clockwork when he explained it to me. Recruiters, Collectors, and the skeleton things you said were with the Fright Knight were all made using that method. I could trap them in a Fenton Thermos, but I don’t know if that’ll actually hold them…”

“I think I agree with Skulker on this one then,” Tucker mentioned as he tapped away on his PDA. 

“Tucker!”

“Sam!” he teased before his expression settled into a more serious one. “I’m being serious. If we can find a way to save them, that’s great and all, but think about it, these Wraith/Collector things kill people. And, Danny said they’re doing that in order to strengthen other dangerous ghosts. They need stopped, and if we don’t have any other way to do it, well…”

“Look, I’m not too keen on this either, but if I get attacked by one again, I need to know I have some way of stopping them. I don’t even know if the Fenton Thermos works on those things, or keep them trapped, if it does.”

“Fine. Just don’t come crying to me if you do something you regret.” She stomped off, taking her bag with her.

“Just give her a few days. You know how she gets when she’s faced with something that’s completely opposite of her views.” Tucker gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Wait, did she take the snack bag with her? SAM! Get back here! You have my 5:15 feeding in there!”

…..

“Hey, Danny?” His mother called from what sounded like the kitchen a couple hours after dinner. 

“Yeah?” he answered as he paused his game. It has been about a week since he talked to Skulker and Ember, and one of the few nights he actually had some free time. 

“Can you come here a moment?”

“I guess.” Sighing, he saved and headed down to the kitchen. As he passed through the living room, he noticed his father working on what appeared to be an ecto-gun in the living room. The news was on, and his usual grin was replaced with a frown and furrowed eyebrows. 

When he entered the kitchen, he found his mother pacing by the phone. While the sight wasn’t too unusual as she had a tendency to pace when a project decided to be finicky, her steps were faster than normal, and her shoulders were stiff.

“Is there something wrong? Both you and Dad seem upset,” he stated as a way of announcing his presence. “Did I do something?” He didn’t see anything that looked like lab results, but he could never be sure with them. There were papers on the kitchen table that looked like his mother’s handwritten notes. “I know I’ve been really busy recently…”

She glanced at him and bit her lip. “You’re not in trouble. Honey, we were just notified that a couple of your classmates went missing.”

It took him a moment to register what she said. “Wait, missing? Like they were out doing something and lost track of time missing or like… like what happened earlier in the year missing?” When his mother wouldn’t meet his eyes, and icy chill settled in the pit of his stomach. “Wait, they seriously think they were abducted?”

“The police and parents have mostly been reaching out to their immediate friend groups, but we were contacted due to the concern it might be related to the same thing that attacked us. The police said the missing were girls named Paulina, Maura, Valerie, and… I think Star? I wrote their full names down. Off chance, did you happen to hear anything?”

Surprised at the last one named, he read over his mother’s notes. Sure enough, the name written was ‘Star Desdemona.’ “I thought that Star was in the process of moving away from here…” he muttered as he tried to remember what Tucker and Sam told him. “I know she was transferring schools, but I think that someone said her family was moving far away from here while she heals.”

“What do you mean?”

“Huh? I thought you knew?” He glanced over at his mother. “Paulina and Star both disappeared during the same time I did. Star was pretty badly injured. I was told she’s now missing part of her arm. I don’t know if anything happened to Valerie, but I know that Maura also went missing for a short amount of time shortly before I returned to school. Paulina and Star both seemed as okay as you can be for someone who’s been taken and hurt, but we keep getting reports that Maura seems different after her disappearance… Hey!” 

His mother bolted downstairs as he finished. He called out to her in confusion, but there was no immediate answer. Seconds later, she was back in the kitchen holding a wide variety of items. “Jack! Get in the Ghost Assault Vehicle! I’ll explain on the way!”

As his dad excitedly jumped to action, Danny tried to get his mother’s attention. “What’s going on? Where are you going?”

“Sweetie, I know it’s late, but I want you to call Vlad and have him pick you up,” she explained. “Just like you, those girls are now potentially targets for the paranormal. We need to help find them before something else does.” With that, she ran out the door, almost forgetting to close it. 

Dumbfounded, he stared at the door for a few moments before realizing what was happening. Springing to action, he ran to get his cell phone and set up a group call with his friends as he tried to think if he needed to take anything. When his friends finally picked up, he stated, “Tucker, is that research you were doing on Maura done? If so, we really need it right now. We have a massive problem.”  
....................................................................................................................  
Notes:  
So, since I don’t think I mentioned it, I envisioned the camping/abduction chapters to be in early September since weather tends to remain summery in that region until mid to late September when the temperature usually starts to drop. Danny goes back to school in the second half of September, the Monday after the 20th. I hope that helps a bit with time frame. 

Also, an unusual paranormal tidbit. Many people, at least in the US, report a decrease in activity once Halloween passes, and it starts picking back up in the spring, often around the equinox.

For readers far more familiar with the metric system, three feet imperial is 91.44 cm.

For Star’s last name, I chose ‘Desdemona’ which is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘ill-fated.’ It’s most famously used in Shakespeare’s Othello. It is also the name of an asteroid in the asteroid belt (666 Desdemona) and one of Uranus’ moons – there’s a bunch of them named after Shakespeare characters.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning, or lack there of, and how drama queens handle danger

“So let me get this straight, Paulina, Star, and them are all missing?” Sam questioned over the video chat after Danny caught them up with what he just learned. 

“Yeah, and once I told her that at least three of them went missing earlier this year, my mom raced out of the house with my dad in tow, guns blazing.”

“I heard my parents talking about something serious a little bit ago, but I thought it had something to do with my mom’s work, not something like this,” Tucker added as continued to type. “So, do you really thing this has something to do with your sixth sense vibe about Maura?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Danny admitted. “I… I just want to make sure it isn’t, you know?”

“And what if it is? What are you going to do about it?” The disapproval in Sam’s voice made him flinch. Yep, she was definitely still mad at him.

He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “Look, I’m not happy about this either, but I don’t want to find out our classmates were killed by some monster. I might be able to do something about it. Sam, you didn’t see what I saw the day I got attacked in the alleyway.” He shivered as the memory of the blood covered man came to the forefront of his mind.

Her expression softened. “I get it. As much as I don’t personally like them, I don’t want them hurt either. Just promise me…”

“I’ll do my best to stay safe.”

She shook her head. “Not just that. Promise me you won’t do something you’ll end up regretting.”

“I’ll try.” If he was right, and this was related to a Collector or Recruiter, he might have to fight. What was the phrase he learned from his mom? Something like hurt rather than kill; kill rather than be killed? Whatever it was, it probably applicable to his situation.

As Sam grumbled something inaudible, Tucker shouted in triumph. “So, I think I have what you need, Danny,” he stated as he glanced back towards the camera. “Maura’s family lives just outside of the upscale neighborhood that Sam lives in, but from what I can tell from their records, they haven’t been using the electricity or plumbing all that much.”

“Should I ask how you know?”

“Bills.”

“That makes sense. Wait, you can access a person’s bills?”

“Details.” Tucker waved his hand dismissively. “But, I did find they have a… I guess it’s a ‘get away’ cabin or something like that on the other side of Bell Park, where its boarders the Borley forest. Compared to their house, that’s been used a lot more recently.” Sounds of typing could be heard for a few minutes. “Oh, they have security cameras! Give me a minute.” 

“Thanks, Tuck. I wonder if I should check under Centralia Bridge if they’re not there?” Danny mused while Tucker continued his research. “There’s that naturally occurring portal Ember showed me under it... and we did see that Wraith go into it.”

“Hmmm, possibly, but isn’t that one being watched?” Sam questioned. “I mean, Skulker said he and his pals were checking known portals.”

“Good point.”

“Oh… oh shit.” More cursing could be heard as Tucker somehow shared his computer screen over the chat video. “I hacked the security video feed. This was taken about an hour ago.” 

No sound could be heard on the video. The image just showed what looked like a living room, but after a few seconds, Star and Paulina came into frame frantically running away from something. Seconds later, Maura came into frame, dragging a struggling Valerie by the hair. There were gouge marks in Maura’s arms from where Valerie tried fighting back, but the girl paid them no mind.

“Well, at least we know where they were,” Danny replied dryly. “Do you have any other video, Tuck?”

“No, but I’m actually surprised that I don’t. I should have gotten video of them entering the house, but it seems like there’s a blind spot in their security in the back of the cabin. Maybe that’s how they got in? I can also tell you that they’re not on the upper floors, so maybe there’s a basement or something. If you give me a bit, I can get you a floor plan.”

“Can you send it to my phone?” he asked as he willed himself to change to his ghostly form. “I’m don’t think I should wait around any longer.”

Sam knocked something over in her room as she stood up. “You’re seriously going alone? Danny! I’m going to come with you!”

He shook his head. “Sam, I do appreciate it, but I think I need to go alone. Can one of the two of you tip off the police?” With that, he let the feeling of intangibility wash over him. As he ghosted through his wall to the outside, he could hear his friends shouting for him to stop. After double checking his GPS for directions for the address Tucker sent him, he sped off, hoping he might be able to help.

…..

“Sam, where are you going?’ Tucker shouted as she grabbed a few things from her room.

“Where do you think?” she snapped. “Our idiot is going to get himself killed! Or worse, he’s going to kill something else.” She could hear a long drawn out sigh causing her to glare at her friend. “What?”

“Sam, we don’t even know what’s going on. This might not even be anything paranormal. As weird as it looks, we might just have a deranged high schooler in our midst. I honestly really hope that’s the case, but if it’s not, the paranormal doesn’t seem to want to play by the rules. We’ve already lost one classmate, and there have been a bunch of murders around town. Do you really think you should be worried about the moral high ground right now?”

“Yes! No! Probably.” After taking a second to gather her thoughts, she explained, “I get that this isn’t a normal situation, but I don’t want Danny to do something that will haunt him for this rest of his life.” When Tucker snickered, she stopped and realized her unintentional pun. Scowling, she continued, “I just want to protect him as much as possible.”

“You might not be able to do that. You know that, right?’

“It’s not going to stop me from trying.”

“Then if you’re going, come get me. I’ll go to. You’re not the only person who wants to help him.”

Surprised was replaced with a warmth that could only be described as friendship. As much as Tucker voiced his opinions about not wanting to be in danger, he was always ready to step up when it really counted. “Give me about five minutes, and I’ll be waiting for you in the back. I just have to let my grandmother know to cover for me.”

…..

Paulina wanted to scream. It was shaping up to be the worst night of her life, weird camping trip aside. She had decided to have a last-minute celebration for Star, who would be permanently moving away. Even though the girl was just her satellite, she had been a loyal supporter for the past few years, and had been totally screwed over by the devils that took that on that horrid camping trip so Paulina figured having a girl’s night out was a good plan. It would help cheer Star up and show that Paulina at least outwardly looked like she cared about her followers.

They did the normal things – get their hair and nails done, go shopping, viciously gossip about their peers. It had been a great day until Maura offered to take them to her parents’ nearby cabin where she could get them access to alcohol. Star suggested that they message the guys, but Paulina had decided against that, at least until she inspected the place. If they were going to throw a last-minute party, the place needed to have an acceptable décor for photos. That ended decision might end up costing her and the others their lives. 

When Maura showed them around, Paulina noticed a distinctive lack of, well, life, for a lack of a better word. As passable as the place looked, the air felt stale, and a weird scent wafted through the air. She didn’t like it, and announce, much to Maura’s dismay, that it would not be an acceptable hangout for the private party. 

Maura begged her to reconsider, but everything was still fine until she marched to the front door to let herself out. Maura went ballistic, screaming and flinging anything she could grab towards them. Valerie wanted to fight back, but Star just begged for them to leave. It wasn’t like she could do much with her lack of a hand, so Paulina worked at the door while Valerie placed herself between them and Maura. 

It shouldn’t have taken her so long to open the damn door! There must have been some sort of outside lock, or it jammed, or something, but before she could get it open, Valerie shouted in surprise as Maura rushed her and punched her in the face. 

Star screamed, and although Paulina would never admit it, she did the same. Valerie tried to punch back, but Maura grabbed her arm and brought it down over her raised leg. The sound of the bone snapping was deafening, and silence momentarily fell between them from the shock. The spell they were seemingly under broke when someone, Paulina would never be certain of who, shifted. Maura then started clawing at and trying to bite Valerie. 

Paulina never claimed to be brave. If she was at school and had her minions to support her, sure, she could take initiative, but she wasn’t at school. She was at this forsaken cabin no where near any other houses, and there was no way she could stand up for herself. This was starting to feel like the camping trip all over again! 

Shrieking with fear, she bolted, hoping she could find where she left her purse or find a hiding place. Star followed behind her, babbling something. It took all of her willpower not to scream at the girl to shut up. 

Finally catching sight of her purse on one of the end tables in lounge area, she sighed in relief until she heard the signs of struggling. Hesitantly turning, she found Maura standing in the doorway with Valerie scampering away from her. However, Maura no longer looked like herself – her body seemed to have gotten bigger somehow, like she was stretched out, like that blueberry girl in that one movie. Her skin took on a weird grayish hue, like she was going to be sick or something. 

“Don’t just stand there.” Paulina jumped when Valerie wheezed the words out. When had she gotten behind her? “We can’t fight that thing. Run!” Valerie grabbed Star and somehow managed to direct them to the stairs leading to the basement. Luckily, there was a door at the bottom of the steps, and once they were inside of it, Valerie instructed them to help her pile furniture in front of the door. Between Star’s missing hand and Valerie’s broken arm, most of the heavy work was left to Paulina.

Once they finished throwing everything they could in front of the door, Paulina took the chance to look around. It seemed like a regular spooky basement, icky cobwebs and all. As much as she wanted nothing to do with such a dirty room, it would have to do until they could get out of this mess. Firstly, she needed to find a door.

Glancing around, she took stock of her satellites. Star had lost all color in her skin and had fallen to the ground in shock. As annoying as her lack of response was, she guessed the girl had a valid reason. Valerie was up and about, but it looked like she was missing some of her hair. Gashes and bite marks marred her skin, and the begrudgingly cute top she wore had been ruined by blood stains. Her broken arm hung at a weird angle. 

Trying to ignore the queasy feeling she got when looked at Valerie’s arm, she handed Valerie her phone as she looked for a door, which was quickly found. As Valerie talked to someone from 911, Paulina tried the door. Although the lock refused to budge at first, she managed to unlock it. The door itself took a little bit of coaxing from both her and Star, but they finally pried it open. 

“Hey, wait!” Valerie called out to them before they had a chance to run outside. Although faint voices could be heard from the phone, she didn’t seem to be paying any attention to it. 

“What?” Paulina demanded of her. “Do you want to be trapped in this house with Maura or whatever she is? She, like, totally bit you!”

“That’s the thing. You’d think we’d hear the sounds of someone trying to break down the door, but there aren’t any.” She returned to the call and repeated the lack of sound to the operator. “Uh huh, yeah. I don’t see anything, but we have another way out. Got it.” Glancing up at them, she explained, “we need to verify no one is out there first. If there is, we’re probably safest in here.”

“No, no way am I spending another minute in this cobweb infested place.”

“Valerie,” Star’s voice came out as a whisper, “I’m with Paulina.” Her lip trembled as she glanced around. “You didn’t see what I saw when…” she gestured to her stump. “There were weird creatures then too… I have memories of them talking about eating us. I… I just can’t…”

Valerie’s expression softened, and she told the 911 operator that they were going to try to go outside. Much to Paulina’s chagrin, she took the lead. Before she stepped outside, stopped them and some sort of check or something before beckoning them. 

The brisk night air felt great after being in the stuffy basement. Taking her own look around, Paulina noticed there didn’t seem to be any sign of movement. “See! No one is out here! Now, let’s get to the car and get you girls to a hospital. In case you haven’t seen yourselves, you’re both a mess.”

Star weakly chuckled as Valerie scowled and shook her head. Satisfied she lightened the mood at least a little, Paulina began walking back towards the area she remembered parking the car. Well, that was the plan anyways until Star screamed.

Vexed that they were stalled again, she turned and snarled, “What?” before she caught sight of something pale and unsightly crawling down the side of the cabin. “What is that thing?”

“I think that’s Maura!”

“What the hell kind of skin care did she use to turn into something like that?” She demanded of Valerie as she and the others began to run. 

“You’re seriously worried about that. Now?”

“Yeah. Isn’t it obvious? If we survive this, I don’t want to turn into some hideous monster like her.”

As they ran, the creature that used to be Maura followed them along the outside of the cabin. She tried not to look back at it, but it moved effortlessly across the façade and jumped off when they rounded a corner. She could feel something barely brush by her as she ran. Shit! It must be right behind them. 

Preparing for the worst, she ran as fast as she could in her heels. She had hoped she’d be able to show them off tonight, but if they broke, she doubted she’d care. Her papa would help her find the right replacements, and maybe they’d be an even cuter pair! That little bit of hope helped her find more incentive to run. 

A flash of green, a thud, and snarl force her and the others to stop and look back. An eerie green shield separated the monster from them. Not knowing what to make of it, Paulina glanced up to see what appeared to be an angel floating towards them with his hands outstretched and glowing a similar color as the shield. 

Her breath hitched as she took in the sight. His body looked insubstantial as if he barely existed in this world as he moved between them and the monster. Silvery white hair rustled in a non-existent wind, which contrasted starkly against his black clothing. His body gave off a comforting white glow, but it was his eyes that captivated her. When he glanced back at them, his eyes were revealed to be a mesmerizing and otherworldly green.

It wasn’t until Valerie snapped her out of her daze with a slap. “Girl, I’ll apologize to you later, but we need to go, now! You can fantasize later.”

“But!” she glanced back towards the otherworldly boy, who was mouthing something to them. After a moment, she realized he was telling, begging, them to escape, but his voice seemed so distant and distorted that she didn’t realize it. 

“I’ll… I’ll hold it off until you can escape!” His words came across as whisper from far away. “Please, this thing will kill you if you stay.”

“I don’t know who you are but thank you!” Star yelled before dashing away. 

“But!” Paulina didn’t understand why she was so worried about someone who was obviously inhuman. “Can I at least have your name?”

Surprise emanated from him as he glanced at them again. “I’m just a phantom. Please, just get out of here. I don’t think I can keep this up much longer.”

She wanted to press the issue, but Valerie grabbed her and drug her to the car. “Look, you’re the only one here who can still drive. Think about whatever that thing is later. We need to get out of here.”

“Alright, alright. I’m on it, but you owe me. Try not to bleed on my seats.”

“Whatever. Just focus on the road. I think my call with 911 dropped. I’ll call them back and let them know we’re heading to the hospital.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Notes:  
The quote Danny mentions is derived from a Buddhist teaching and has become a code in Martial Arts. It became popular in the west after being mentioned in the movie “Kung Fu” (1972). “Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than main. Main, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced.” While I don’t know the origin of this addition, I’ve also heard it extended to “kill, rather than be killed.” 

Bell Park is a nod to one of America’s most famous ghosts, the Bell Witch. I recommend looking into the story. 

Borley forest is named after the Borley Rectory, which was a site of a very famous ghostly nun and paranormal investigation in the UK. 

Regarding Paulina's POV. I’m not all that familiar with Spanish – it wasn’t very common to hear in my area growing up (and I studied Latin and German), so I didn’t want to really add in any in case I misused it. But my mind decided she needed to be the storyteller in that section, so I did my best. 

For any international readers, 911 is the US’ emergency number.

I’d also like to point out one last thing – I like the headcannon that Danny’s features and voice are distorted to an extent in his ghost form, like looking at something through a ‘snowy’ or ‘fuzzy’ TV screne. Sam and Tucker were with him when he changed for the first time in the series and in this AU, thus allowing them to ‘glimpse behind the veil’, so to speak. In this AU, others who are more in tune to the other side would also not be as affected by it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Defending against a monster and getting extra help in the process

For the life, or perhaps afterlife, of himself, Danny could never understand why girls who traveled in groups always seemed to take so long. Instead of running like normal people, Paulina, Valerie, and Star all stared at him when he appeared. It wasn’t until Valerie slapped Paulina, which really looked like it hurt, that they fled the scene. He really hoped they actually left in that car instead of sitting in it and watching him or something. He really didn’t want them around as he tried to fend off the Wraith. 

He noted that Maura was nowhere to be seen. Had it killed her already? Or had this thing been masquerading as her? Should he try to find her? That was probably his best plan of action.

Dropping his shield, he made a show of floating up in the air as the thing jumped at where he had previously been. It followed his movements on the ground as he scanned the premises. The car was gone, and there didn’t seem to be any sort movement outside the house. Well, that was a good sign. 

Should he check in the house? If Muara was still alive, it would be really shitty that the other girls just left her there.

He barely had a chance to make up his mind when a blur launched at him. The next thing he knew, he crashed through a window. The landing sucked, but what sucked more was the who knows how much weight crashing into his chest. Stars danced across his vision for a moment before pale skin and more pain greeted him. Something was tearing into his shoulder. Oh, gross, it was biting him. 

“Alright, remember what Ember taught you,” he murmured to himself as he focused his energy into his hands. “You want to chew on something? Well, chew on this!” He sent a blast of energy into the Wraith’s stomach, throwing it off him. 

Coughing a few times, he rolled over before slowly standing. That thing might have cracked some of his ribs. Thankfully, the Wraith seemed to have just as much trouble standing up as he did. Knowing it was his chance to get some distance, he let himself fall through the floor. 

He found himself in what looked like an old game room. He didn’t see anything that looked like stairs in the immediate area which he hoped would give him enough time for a breather. His shoulder ached – glancing at the area, he saw drips of a glowing green substance. Was that his blood? Why the hell did it look like that?

More pressingly, what was that smell? He sniffed himself. No, it wasn’t him, thankfully. Then what? “Oh… oh eww,” he caught what appeared to be bones in the corner. It was a cabin, maybe it was just a deer or something? That was wearing a dress… Oh, oh shit. He needed to get out of here.

He let himself phase through the wall to get back outside. The chilly night air felt like bitter against his skin. Something about the freedom of being outside hurt in a way he didn’t understand. 

An awful screech broke the silence of the night. Glancing back at the cabin, Danny found the Wraith staring at him from atop the roof. The thing launched at him. 

He barely had a chance to get another shot at it. Thankfully, it was enough to blast it away, but not enough to stop it. As soon as it had a chance to hit the ground, it righted itself and launched at him again. This time, he decided to punch it. Surprisingly, the blow struck, but it seemed to do little damage as the thing locked on to him again. Its claws dug into his flesh as it bit him again. 

“Get away!” Yelling, he forced another shield around him. It luckily blew it away from him, but what the heck was he going to do? The blast from earlier did something, but he really didn’t know what to do to stop it. No one taught him to fight – Ember only helped him with controlling his abilities. Heck, he didn’t even know what it would take to stop the thing. He hadn’t wanted to fight it in the first place. 

The sound of an ecto-gun powering up jolted him out of his daze. “FREEZE SPOOK!”

Danny turned to see both of his parents with weaponry aimed at him. Although he didn’t want to take his eyes off them, he needed to check where the Wraith went. Great, it moved. No matter how dangerous his parents, particularly his mother, could be, that Wraith was the bigger threat. 

He floated a little higher, hoping it would give him enough time to reach if his parents decided to fire, as he scoured the area for signs of the creature. For something so pale, it really did manage to blend into shadows well. Maybe that was a side effect of being some form of unholy abomination? He moved as darted around the cabin as quickly as he could, all while his parents followed him.

Actually, what were his parents doing? He expected to have at least a few shots come his way, but they just seemed to be watching him for now. Weird. It wasn’t like them to be more curious than trigger happy in the field. 

Chills ran up his spine again. Great, the Wraith was back, but where…? Seeing a flash of white move, he realized it decided to go after his parents. He yelled a warning to them, but they stared at him before aiming their guns at him. Did they not understand the warning? He shouted again and gestured to the Wraith, but again, they disregarded him. 

“Come on, please work.” He gritted his teeth as he tried creating a shield behind his parents. Unsurprisingly, it proved to be much harder to concentrate with the added threat of the ecto-weaponry. However, his parents still didn’t take the shot, even as green energy formed around his hands. 

Their attention turned from him when they heard tail-tale sounds of something heavy smacking a wall. His shield did its job, and instead of the Wraith pouncing on one of them, it hit it instead. 

“Great gobs of ghost goo! What is that thing?” his dad shouted as the Wraith stood and snarled. 

Danny let the shield fall as he floated to the side of his mother. “That’s what’s been attacking people in town… well… maybe not it, but things like it. You know what I mean.”

Both his parents stared at him for a moment before his dad frowned at him. “Mads… I think this entity is trying to help us.”

“I think you might be right,” she agreed as she raised her weapon and trained it on the Wraith. “We’ll work with you this time, ectoplasmic scum, but we’re watching you. Are you trying to tell us this thing is what has been attacking people in town?”

Danny sighed and nodded. “I just said that. Can’t you hear me?”

xxxx

Maddie watched the odd manifestation of ectoplasmic consciousness sag its shoulders after nodding. It seemed to be actively trying to speak, but she could barely register its voice. It was the same issue they had with the Box Ghost. It took them time to be able to sort through the distortions of its voice to be able to hear it properly. Although, in all fairness, the Box Ghost spent most of its time yelling about boxes.

However, this one seemed different. If she had to guess based on its size and shape, it had probably taken the form of a teenage or young adult male. However, save for its eyes, its features were hazy. It clearly held some sort of intelligence as it purposely chose to protect them as opposed to indiscriminately attacking. Yet, why did it? Most of their research showed spectral entities tended to range from indifferent to hostile, but occasional reports of helpful spirits did pop up. 

Was it a type of radiant boy? No, that couldn’t be right. They tended to appear younger, and some accounts said they had a blue glow about them. This one glowed with a white purity. Radiant boys weren’t known for such in depth interactions either.

“Hey, kid,” Jack’s booming voice made her jump. Cursing at her momentary distraction, she turned her attention back to the monstrous thing which started growling before it launched at the shield. A dull green substance splattered across it as the creature bounced off. Its force was enough to create a crack.

“Do you have any idea how to stop this thing?” Jack asked the specter. 

It glanced back and forth between them and the monster before it tried speaking. Just like before, its words sounded like a whisper on the wind. When it didn’t get a response from them, it mimicked a sigh and gestured to its chest before mimicking aiming a gun and firing. It then moved its hands as if to show breaking apart. This time, she was able to barely hear it say, “Destroy it.”

That caught Maddie off guard. In all their time researching, she never heard of a spectral entity telling a human to destroy another entity.

The ghost glanced at the monster as it readied itself for another attack. “… Talk later,” Maddie heard it say as it raised its hands. “… Damaged …. Can’t hold it…”

“Right. When I give the signal, can you drop this? Jack and I will blast.” The phantom beside her nodded and made some sort of agreement as the creature dropped and started running at the shield. “NOW!” The shield dropped, allowing her and her husband to take a shot. Even though Jack’s aim was off, hitting its shoulder, her aim was true. It stumbled backwards with a nasty wound to the chest.

“It’s not enough.” Maddie jumped again. This time, she heard the specter’s voice more clearly, definitely male. “Do you have a stronger setting on that thing?”

“Yes, but it’ll take a few moments to calibrate it,” she responded.

“Wait, you can hear me now?”

Ignoring the ghost, she asked her husband to keep the monster busy as she fiddled with the controls. Oh, she wished she had a camera so she could re-watch Jack shooting at the monster with such an abundance of glee in the future. Maybe they should create a Fenton drone? She needed to push those thoughts from her head – there was ectoplasmic scum to destroy. 

The other ghost decided to join Jack in distracting it – dodging and spinning in the air. It was surprising to see how well the more humanoid ghost managed to keep itself away from both Jack’s and the monster’s attacks. At one point, the monster feinted and went after Jack, but the specter, the phantom, managed to blast it away with the same type of energy as the shield. It raised its hands in the air in excitement over the successful attack.

“Consider that a ‘thank you’ for biting me earlier.”

Her gun was ready for its next attack. “Jack, move aside!” she shouted as the monster shook itself off and hissed. Her blast hit true, creating a large hole in the torso of the creature. 

She held her breath as the monster took a step forward. But as it moved to take another step, its body began to crumble to dust. In the midst of it, she almost thought she saw a pale flame momentarily flicker before disappearing. 

“So, it is possible to save them.” Relief could be heard in the phantom’s voice. What in the world did it mean by that?

“Don’t move, spook!” Jack shouted as he jammed his ecto-gun into its side.

“Whoa! I’m on your side!” It raised its hands in an attempt to show it was harmless.

Not entirely sure what to make of it, she walked over to the two. “Honey, hold on a moment. We need some information,” she explained, much to Jack’s dismay. Turning to the specter, she jammed her finger against its surprisingly solid form, “What do you know about that thing?”

Its eyes bounced back and forth between her and where the creature disintegrated a few times before explaining. According to it, such creatures were made by warping human souls. It explained other ghosts said they were abominations and to destroy them because they didn’t know a way to fix them. 

“But,” it gestured back to the dust pile, “I heard a thank you. Apparently not all souls become ghosts, so I hope she passed on.”

As it smiled, for a moment she could see past the haze of its features. While their research suggested ectoplasmic entities were nothing but a mockery of the human form, this one seemed to show a genuine concern. Its features and its proximity of skin matched that of a normal human. Actually, it resembled… “Danny?”

As it jolted, the haze around it seemed to disappear entirely. Its… no, his eyes widened in alarm as he bit his lip. She’d seen that expression so many times. Even if the hair and eye color were different, she’d recognize her son anywhere. Even the posture and build were the same. 

Seemingly knowing he’d been caught, he faded from view. Cursing to herself, she adjusted her goggles to full spectrum to see if she could find him. There were no signs of him in the general area. Did he just vanish or slip into the ground? Or did he just suddenly manifest here and return to where he needed to be afterwards?

“Mads?” Her husband gently put his hand on her shoulder. 

She gave him a quick hug and requested that he work on gathering any samples of the creature and the specter he might be able to find. Not knowing what else to do to put her uneasy feelings aside, she brought out one of her trackers. A strong reaching appeared near the end of her range, only to vanish. It didn’t appear to move off the screen, so which meant something odd happened. Perhaps it vanished back into its world, but if the creature wasn’t a ghost…

“Suffern’ spooks! Maddie, come look at this!”

She raced over to where her husband stood over the dust pile. He held a small vial which appeared to be filled with blood. When she raised an eyebrow at it, he explained, “I could have sworn I was scooping up some of the ectoplasm from that ghost kid. He looked like he had some nasty hits on him. Anyways, I was trying to get it before it evaporated like most ectoplasm does, but once I got it sealed, it flashed and turned red. Actually, its color looked kinda muddy before that, like it had something contaminating it.”

“It thought it wasn’t a normal ghost,” she muttered to herself. “Jack, lets hurry back and check that sample. I… I have a bad feeling Danny’s somehow involved in this.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Were you able to look past the haziness of its features? Jack, it looked like our son. We knew some sort of change occurred when he was taken. The recent tests on his samples showed he was worse than we initially thought, but what if the changes were beyond whatever we could have expected. I don’t know if that phantom was a projection of his psyche or… or if that was really him. Some of the old legends talk about how people taken into the other worlds are forever changed.”

xxxx

“Danny, you’re a mess!” Sam yelled after her boyfriend phased into her car. With Tucker’s information, she was able to find a backroad into the general area of the cabin. Thankfully, the idiot hadn’t left his phone at home, so they were able to give him a general idea where they were.

She hoped Danny wouldn’t get hurt, but he clearly got into a tussle with something. If it wasn’t for the green color, she’d assume he was bleeding. Heck, he might be bleeding, and that’s just what his blood looked like now. No, it wasn’t something she could think about now. 

“You should see the other guy,” Danny wheezed as a ring of light appeared around his waist. Moments later, he appeared human again, red blood an all. 

“Sam, just focus on getting us out of here. I got an alert the police are on the move. We don’t want to be caught out here right now,” Tucker told her as he crawled into the backset of her car. “I’ll try to see if I can do anything about those injuries.”

Although she wanted to argue, she bit her tongue and decided to follow Tucker’s advice. She could be angry with Danny after they got him patched up. 

“Dude, is that a bite mark?”

“Probably. I mean, that thing bit me. But…” She could hear Danny sigh and shift. “Got them to safety. Guys… I think my parents know.”

Sam nearly crashed the car as she slammed on the breaks. Looking over her seat, she almost felt sorry for Danny as he winced and cradled his shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

“They… appeared while I was figuring out what to do with that… that monster…” Danny’s words started to slur as his eyes drooped. “Mom… I think she recognized me. Called me…” His head nodded a few times before he slumped forward, asleep.

“Hey, hey! Dude, you can’t just fall asleep like that.” Tucker tried shaking him a few times with no result. “We need more information.” He glanced up at Sam as his eyes darted back and forth between Danny and his PDA. “Sam, I don’t like this. He’s a mess, the police are investigating what happened at that cabin, and now he’s saying his parents might know… I don’t know what to think.”

She bit her thumbnail as she considered her options. “I think we should probably get him back home and try to patch him up? I doubt we can take him back to a hospital. Weren’t his vitals all weird? With how things progressed, I’d be surprised if they weren’t weirder now. Getting him home is probably our best bet. I’d say to go to my house, but I want him at his if his parents come home. Danny said he wasn’t sure if he should tell them or not, and I don’t really want to take that option away from him.”

“I hate that I’m agreeing with you about this.” Tucker’s voice took on a bitter tone. “But, let’s go. Do his parents still keep the first aid kit near the second ham alarm?”

“Yep. It still boggles my mind why that’s a necessity in the Fenton household.” 

\----------------------------------------------------  
Notes:  
Radiant boys are a type of ghost, primarily documented in Germany and northern England. They often appear as boys between 8 and 10. They are considered omens of bad luck. They appear with a bright glow and are often said to have blonde hair. Some accounts say the almost appear as if they’re on fire. There are accounts of blue boys or boys disappearing in blue flashes that are sometimes associated with the radiant boy legends – hence my mentioning of the blue glow. 

Full-spectrum – this includes types of light invisible to human eyes such as ultraviolet. This is newer in paranormal studies. Ghost hunters have begun using full-spectrum cameras to help find evidence of spirits. To my knowledge, there are currently no goggles or video recording equipment available to the public for full-spectrum (not sure about the military… but a conversation I once had with a former military contractor leads me to think it’s possible). But, we’re talking about the Fentons. I think it’s fine in this instance.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny finally has that talk with his parents

“Thank god Danny still forgets to lock his windows,” Sam muttered to herself as she crawled through her preferred one. At the start of high school, it was a regular occurrence for her to sneak out of her house after a particularly nasty fight with one of her parents and end up at Danny’s house. After an incident where she was injured when Danny’s parents tried inventing their own security system, the windows became a common entry point for her for a while. 

After entering, she rushed downstairs to find the first aid kit and opened the front door for Tucker, who brought a still unconscious Danny into the house. After a quick debate, Sam helped Tucker carry Danny up into his room. Once they had him settled, Tucker continued to clean his wounds while Sam moved her car to the alley behind the Fenton household where it would be harder to spot. When finished, she returned to the house and worked on tidying. 

Even though Danny admitted he had been debating whether or not to tell his parents the truth as they already knew something in him changed, she couldn’t help but worry. The Fentons weren’t known for being the friendliest towards the paranormal, and Danny wasn’t entirely human anymore. But both Jack and Maddie were loving and usually involved parents, unlike her own. Most of her concerns regarding how they would react were probably a projection of her own issues with her parents. However, she would never admit that to anyone, particularly Jazz. 

After she finished cleaning, she raced back upstairs to help Tucker. He somehow managed to find one of the clean rags and firmly held it to Danny’s shoulder. 

“Can you help clean up the evidence?” he asked, gesturing behind him before he checked on the wound. “Danny bled all over his shirt and through my first attempt at bandaging him.”

Glancing at the area in question, Sam realized with a start that Tucker had removed Danny’s shirt. Allowing herself one peek, she realized he might be more injured than they thought. Greenish bruising seemed to follow his ribs, and there were a few cuts elsewhere. His skin held a sicky green pallor, similar to what she remembered when he first changed. Trying to ignore the resurrection of that memory, she busied herself with removing the stained bandages. 

Danny’s shirt ended up being more problematic. The Fenton’s had a disposal unit for contaminated items, but of course the shirt he got filthy had to be his favorite shirt, the one with the knock off NASA logo. Deciding to go with her gran taught her, she searched high and low throughout the two bathrooms for hydrogen peroxide.

She finally found it under the kitchen skin. After quickly rinsing the stains with a combination of the peroxide, water, and a little elbow grease, she lightened it enough that it should come out in the wash. She was ready to run up the stairs to finish hiding it when the front door slammed open. She froze in her tracks as Maddie Fenton walked in the front door. 

Xxxxx

“Jack, look.” As they were pulling into their driveway, Maddie caught sight of a familiar ladder leading up to her son’s bedroom. “Sam’s here. I bet Tucker is too.”

A frown temporarily flashed across Jack’s features. “It has been a while since she used the window, and I don’t see her car.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her as a mischievous grin replaced the frown. “They are dating now. Do you think…?”

She fondly patted his arm before opening the door. “Compared to the alternative, I think I’d take that option, but I’m worried. If that really was him out there, fighting that thing, then Danny might be seriously injured.”

“I’ll handle the unpacking then. Call if you need me.”

Maddie jumped out of the ghost assault vehicle and ran to the front door. After a few moments of fiddling with the door, she finally got it open to find Sam, frozen at the foot of the stairs holding some type of wet material. Both stared at each other for a few uncertain moments until Sam spoke.

“Err, hi Mrs. Fenton. Danny invited us over. Tucker’s here too. They’re upstairs playing games. Danny accidentally spilled a drink on his favorite shirt – you know how he is about it.” She continued to nervously explain herself.

Maddie tried interrupting her a few times, but she continued to ramble. Sighing, Maddie shouted the girl’s name which stopped her in her tracks. “Sorry for yelling Sam, but I needed to get your attention. Look, I know you’re trying to cover for Danny, but if he’s hurt, I need to know so I can help him.” When Sam still hesitated, she tried a different tactic. “I saw him. I saw what he was helping us fight. While I don’t know with certainty what happened to make him look like that, I know that was Danny. I know I saw my son. Now, let me see him.”

She watched as Sam bite her lip as she shoulders relaxed a little. “Okay. He really is in his room. Tuck’s trying to stop the bleeding, but…”

Brushing past the girl, Maddie moved as swiftly as possible before stopping in her son’s doorway. Danny seemed to sense her presence as he opened his eyes and glanced at her, seemingly ignoring Tucker’s attempts to help him. On first glance, he appeared as human as he was when she left him, but the greenish pallor of his skin suggested something else lurked beneath. 

Danny’s movements alerted Tucker, who followed his gaze. “Mrs. F! Uh, this isn’t what it looks like?”

Ignoring the urge to roll her eyes, she requested Tucker move out of the way so she could check the wound. She couldn’t help but gasp as she pulled the towel away from his shoulder. She heard him say that thing bit him, but the wound, now free of any ghostly haze and fabric, looked more as if he’d been gouged. However, signs of healing could be seen on the outer edges. 

After pulling her eyes away from the wound, she caught sight of the bruising around his ribs. Were they just bruised? Or were they broken? “Oh, honey…” she found herself saying as she touched his face.

Danny gave her a weary smile as he glanced at Tucker and Sam, who had entered the room behind her. “Told… told you she knew.” As he shifted, he hissed in pain.

“Sweetie, you know we need to talk about it, but right now, I need to get you patched up.” Maddie tried to keep her voice as even as possible. Danny’s health and possibly survival came before any type of scolding. She glanced back at Sam and Tucker, “Can you let my husband know Danny’s hurt, and that we need to bring him to the lab?”

“Why the lab? What are you going to do to him?” Sam demanded as she moved to Danny’s side. 

Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed as she tried to reign in her annoyance. Her son needed her help. “I understand you’re worried about him, but I want to get that cleaned and stitched up as quickly as possible. We have more equipment in the lab, and it’s a bit cleaner than up here.”

Sam opened her mouth to retort, but Tucker placed a hand on her shoulder. “You can fight about ethics later, Sam. Danny’s hurt, and did you see that injury? We can’t do anything about it.”

“Fine.”

“Please, just go tell Jack. Tucker, can you help me move him?” As Sam left with a huff, Maddie started instructing Tucker how to help move Danny with as little jostling as possible. She tried hiding it her surprise at how light he felt. If she had to guess, he felt the same as he did when he was around nine or ten. 

Was that a result of the ectoplasm in his system? But when she had him weighed when she and Jack were trying to figure what changed, he still weighed about the same as he did prior to his disappearance with his classmates. It had to be the ectoplasm. Maybe it varied depending on how much his body used it? She needed to push those thoughts aside for now.

When they reached the lab, Jack seemed almost giddy until he caught sight of Danny. Maddie figured he hadn’t originally been convinced it had been Danny who was injured, but whatever initial thought he had, was replaced with a fierce seriousness she had only seen a handful of times. 

While Jack grabbed the disinfectants, Maddie and Tucker managed to get Danny to the exam table. “Sorry, sweetie,” she murmured as he winced from the movement. “I know the table is cold, but please bear with it for a little.” 

She turned to Sam, who was watching from the one corner. Most of the fight seemed to have left her, but she still seemed uneasy. “Can you run upstairs and get the quilt we usually keep on the couch? We’ll get him wrapped up once we get him bandaged.” Sam nodded, and vanished up the stairs. 

“Tuck… you don’t like… urgh… things like this. Why are you… still here?” Danny questioned as he briefly opened his eyes again.

“Dude, I don’t like hospitals. This isn’t a hospital,” Tucker replied as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. “So, you’re stuck with me. Besides, Sam will kill me if I leave you right now while she’s still upstairs.” Danny gave him a weak chuckle.

“Honey! I found them!” Jack’s shout announced the beginnings of Danny’s treatment. 

As Jack started cleaning Danny’s shoulder, Maddie checked her son’s ribs. The noticeable bruising raised concerns for possible broken ribs. There didn’t seem to be evidence of swelling or anything out of place, but hairline fractures and minor breaks were easy to overlook. They didn’t currently have any form of x-ray machine, so she would treat them as possible breaks until she could borrow one. Maybe Jack could even make one tomorrow.

His shoulder proved to be a more interesting situation. In the several minutes he’d been down there, the edges of the injury showed signs of faster than average healing. Areas around the outside of the bite already showed signs of new scar tissue, and if she had to guess, it would probably be completely healed before noon. However, she wasn’t certain if the scar tissue would heal or remain.

“How… how bad is it?” Danny wheezed as he tenderly poked a rib.

“That thing had one heck of a bite. Good thing we took care of it! Oops, sorry about that!” Jack apologized as Danny winced from his dad applying a little extra pressure. 

“Danny, what were you thinking?” Maddie couldn’t hold it in anymore. Her son had gotten badly injured for getting himself involved. She even told him to go to Vlad’s for safety. “That thing was dangerous! Yes, you’ll be just fine after some rest, but you bruised your ribs, maybe even broke them. Your shoulder’s healing, but… but if you weren’t… weren’t different, you might have lost use of it. You could have even been killed!”

“For the record, we tried to stop him,” Tucker interrupted from the corner where he and Sam stood. He shrunk back when she glared at him.

Danny’s gaze fell to his hands. “I didn’t want to fight it,” he replied softly. The green tinge on his skin wasn’t as pronounced as earlier. “I had a feeling something was off… I hoped I was wrong, but I wasn’t. I just wanted to distract it long enough for them to escape.”

Mindful of his injuries, she pulled him into a hug. His skin felt cool, as if he had just been outside. “Oh, sweetie. I do understand why you went to help them, but if your father and I hadn’t shown up when we did, we could have lost you. You’ve gone missing before. Each time, we didn’t know if we’d get you back. Please, don’t do this to us again.”

“I’ll try not to.”

She didn’t like that response but decided it wasn’t worth pressing the issue at the moment. “Looks like you won’t be going to school tomorrow. And I guess you two are staying the night?” She glanced at Sam and Tucker, who gave an affirmative. “Guess I’m ordering pizza. Jack, can you finish bandaging that wound?”

Xxxxxx

Between the pain in his shoulder and dreading the discussion about his ghostly side, Danny barely slept. Both Sam and Tucker reassured him that his parents were taking it in stride, but the ‘what ifs’ ate at him. The anxiety worsened after his friends headed off to school for the day, leaving him alone with his parents and his thoughts. Around ten, his mother called him into the kitchen. 

“So, I guess we’re going to talk about it now?” he asked as he glanced between his mother, who was making coffee, and where his dad was tinkering with something on the table. 

“Let’s change the bandages first, then we’ll talk, okay?” his mother suggested as she handed him a coffee. 

One and a half cups of coffee later, Danny found himself back in his parents’ lab. His ribs felt much better then when he got home the previous night, and most of the bruising had cleared. When his father unwrapped his shoulder, he was shocked to find nothing but a few scars.

“Wow! Look Mads! Even the scar tissue looks old. They might be gone in the next few days.”

“You’re very lucky, Danny.” His mother frowned as she examined his shoulder. “I’m honestly amazed how fast this healed. The green tinge to you skin is gone too.”

“Tinge?” He frowned. Did Tucker mention something about that when he was trying to stop the bleeding?

His mother nodded. “Most likely from the ectoplasm in your body trying to help you heal.”

“Ah…” An uncomfortable silence fell between them until Danny finally decided to break it. “So, what exactly do you want to know about this?” He gestured to himself before willing the change to his ghostly form. “Err, tada?”

Both of his parents openly stared at him for a moment before his dad yelled, “Suffering spooks!” That prompted his dad to gently poke and prod at him. After Danny slapped his hands away, he stepped back and beamed with fatherly pride. “This is amazing! I didn’t see it was really you before because of the haze but look at you! You’re a ghost hunter just like your old man.” 

“It really is remarkable,” his mother agreed as she gently brushed aside his bangs. “We knew something changed, but nothing could have prepared us… We’re lucky you were able to come back to us.”

“Yeah… Frostbite and Clockwork helped explain what is more likely to happen to people who accidentally cross over.” He hesitantly grinned at his parents. “I guess I can finally tell you exactly what happened since this,” he gestured to himself, “was the end result. It also will help explain what happened when I went missing when Jazz and I were out with Aunt Alicia.”

After moving to the living room and reverting to his normal appearance, Danny told them everything. His parents for the most part listened with only a few interruptions. The more he explained, the lighter he felt as if an unknow weight had been removed. However, as he finished and waited for his parents to say something, anxiety started to replace it. 

His dad responded first, asking several questions regarding how the other side looked and for him to describe the various ghosts. In a way, his dad’s enthusiasm eased a lot of his concerns. Instead of being angry, scared, or whatever mad scientist mode could be called, he just seemed excited and supportive.

However, his mother seemed more reserved. Instead of chiming in, she watched and listened as he answered as many of his dad’s questions as he could. She seemed to realize her silence made him uncomfortable.

“Sorry, sweetie, it’s a just lot to take in at one time,” she explained with a soft smile. “You’re still my son, and I love you. Don’t think that’s ever going to change. I just need a little time to process and adjust.”

“That’s… that’s understandable. Heck, I’m still getting used to things. Last time was the first time I successfully managed to form an ectoblast. Shields seem to be so much easier.”

His mother rubbed her eyes and sighed. “You’re telling me, you went to fight that thing when you could barely defend yourself?”

“Err… maybe?” Yep, he was definitely in trouble. 

Although he didn’t get grounded, his mother firmly lectured him on the dangers of his actions. As annoying as it was, he understood her reasoning. He could have gotten seriously hurt, and that scared her. Actually, it was kind of nice to have her react in a normal, motherly way. And after she finished, she ushered him and his dad into the lab to get some preliminary readings on his abilities so she could help him train when he finished healing. 

“I know I probably won’t be able to stop you from getting involved, but at least I can help prepare you,” she explained as his dad happily started building targets. “Danny, I’m honestly worried that something terrible is going to happen to you. In the old legends, people who are altered the way you were don’t usually have good endings. I really hope you’re going to be okay, but you can’t blame a mother for being scared.”

To show he understood, he gave her a hug and did his best not to complain as she ran her tests. His dad would occasionally chime in with an idea or comment, but he mostly kept his attention to his cut outs. By the end of all the poking and prodding, Danny could say he was comfortable enough to be around his parents in his ghost form, but not comfortable enough to really do anything ghostly. It was a start.

Around five, Sam and Tucker dropped by to give him his homework. They asked if he was okay and how his parents were doing, so he gave them a quick rundown of what happened. 

“That’s great to hear! But dude, I got to tell you about what happened at school today!” Tucker almost seemed to shake with excitement, even though Sam rolled her eyes and huffed. “So, you know how you saved Paulina and them? Well, now Paulina is going around and telling anyone who will listen about the angel who saved her.”

“She’s doing what now?” 

.....................................................................................................................................................................

Hydrogen peroxide is a wonderful blood stain remover. Everyone has a slightly different way of using it for stain removal. Note: it is not recommended for wound cleaning. 

I think I mentioned this in another chapter. Per the old legends, people who are fundamentally changed by another realm aren’t usually able to cross back over to the normal world/land of the living. In a lot of the legends, this is due to partaking in food or drink from that other world.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny deals with the aftermath of the attack, and Sam learns that some skills really need to be practiced.
> 
> Verboten is now being cross-posted on tumblr. I'm ayamari-no-goshi there.

Much to Danny’s growing horror and Sam’s annoyance, Tucker gleefully retold how Paulina told everyone she could about how her guardian angel saved them the previous night. He went into detail about her descriptions of ‘an unearthly and gorgeous creature.’ As Tucker finished, Danny could feel his face and ears burning in embarrassment. 

Trying to regain some of his dignity, he asked the one thing that was bugging him, “I’m surprised Paulina was even at school. I mean, they all seemed pretty beat up.”

“She only had a few cuts and bruises. The other girls were in far worse shape,” his mother explained as she brought them out cookies and drinks and set them on the coffee table. At his raised eyebrow, she gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I overheard part of the conversation when I was bringing out the snacks.”

“How come you know that?” Sam questioned after taking a cookie.

“Myself and Danny’s father are helping the police with the more paranormal aspect of the recent cases. They’ve been keeping us updated on events, and since we reported what we found and fought last night, they let us know that the girls Danny saved will be fine. Worst injury is a badly broken arm.”

“So, did they say what happened to Maura? She wasn’t there when the others escaped.” Danny had almost forgotten about her. “Wasn’t she supposed to be with them?”

His mother bit her lip. “You’re not to breath a word of this, but according to all of the girls who escaped, Maura turned into that thing. You called it a Wraith, right? In your original report when you stumbled across that person, you described one that changed it form. Well, right now, we don’t know if it previously was Maura or just impersonating her. The police found bones on the property. They don’t know who it is yet, but they can’t find her parents or her.”

After a few heavy moments of silence, Sam finally spoke up. “Danny wasn’t really in any condition to talk to us about it last night, but what exactly happened to it?”

“Well, we destroyed it.”

Sam scowled as she clenched her fists. “How could you? That used to be a person!”

“What did you want me to do?” his mother snapped. “Let it kill my husband, my son, someone else? Whatever it used to be, it certainly wasn’t human when we faced it.”

“I… I don’t know! But there had to be another way!”

“Sam, stop!” Now Danny found himself standing. “Look, I understand why you’re upset. But you weren’t there. You didn’t fight it.” His shoulders sagged as he fell back into the chair. “Whoever it was that was trapped in there thanked us when mom destroyed it.”

Although it didn’t completely get rid of the scowl, Sam’s expression did ease. “What are you talking about?”

“The soul we freed… it thanked us,” Danny repeated, “right before it vanished. I… I don’t know if it moved on or not, but at least I know that person was happy to have been stopped.”

“Besides, if what Danny explained about their creation is correct, powerful dark magic, possibly a type of necromancy, was used,” Maddie added. “Magic of that type is dangerous and can consume a caster. I don’t know if there is anyone alive who could reverse it without serious harm.”

“Huh? I thought you and dad dabbled in some form of magic?”

His mother looked sheepish. “Mostly protective magic. We determined anything more could put us or you and your sister at serious risk.”

“Speaking of Jazz,” Tucker interrupted as he eyed Sam, who had finally sat back down. She was still within shin kicking distance of him. “Danny, are you going to tell her about your superpowers?”

He sputtered. “They aren’t superpowers! Besides, you know Jazz. She doesn’t believe in the supernatural. She’d probably think I was having some sort of psychotic break if I told her, and if I transformed in front of her, she might seriously consider committing herself.” At his mother’s warning glare, he winced. “What? You know I’m right.”

“Dude, you can fly. That definitely counts as a superpower.” 

“That reminds me,” his mother announced with a clap of the hands. “Tucker, Sam, you’re more than welcome to join Danny in his training sessions. The paranormal seems to be more attracted to people who are in tune to it. You’ve already been taken to the other side of the veil, so there’s a chance you might be targeted by one of these Wraiths or one of the Recruiters Danny mentioned.”

“Wait, are you seriously giving me a chance to work with your tech? Sweet! I’m in.” Tucker looked almost giddy at the idea he’d be able to wield Fenton tech. “What about you, Sam?”

“As much as the idea of weapon training seems amazing, I have to think about it.” She stood, grabbed her bag. Without even saying ‘goodbye,’ she left.

Danny tried calling after her, only to be stopped by his mother. “Sweetie, give her some time. I guess destroying the Wraith went against her morals?”

“You could say that.” Sam’s departure left a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew that she had been vehemently opposed to destroying the Wraiths, but she wasn’t there. She wasn’t the one that fought it. Morals were good and all, but sometimes life presented situations that didn’t allow for the ‘moral’ choice. As much as he was still in shock about what happened, having his mother destroy the thing seemed like the best option. 

His mother left them alone, allowing Tucker time to try to cheer him up. It helped, barely, but it helped. 

About an hour later, his father called up from the lab, gleefully announcing he finished the targets. He allowed an excited Tucker to pull him downstairs to find a rather elaborate set up which included angry ghost targets and obstacles.

“Danno!” His father greeted them. “Look! The Fenton Tactical Course version one is done! I even made moving targets! Look!” He pressed a button which shot what appeared to be a ceramic tile with a ghost on it across the room before it crashed into what appeared to be glass beakers. “I’m still working out the kinks. Don’t tell your mother.”

………

Come the Monday after the girls were attacked, Sam still refused to speak with Danny. He tried to say something to her in the hallway, but she brushed right past him. He had sent her a few messages during that time, to let her know how training was going and that he hoped she would join, but he refused to apologize for what happened. 

“Geez, Fenton, what did you do to upset her? All of our grade thought you two would be the unbreakable couple.” Danny turned to find Valerie approaching him. Although her arm was in a sling and there was some bruising around her eye, she seemed to be healing nicely.

“We’re at…I think the word is impasse.” He glanced around to make sure no one was in immediate earshot before beckoning her closer. “You heard that my parents killed, destroyed… whatever you want to call it, the thing that attacked you, right?” he whispered. When she nodded, he moved away and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, she’s unhappy with how they handled the situation.”

Valerie raised an eyebrow. “What about you?”

“Me? From what I’ve heard, I don’t think there was another option. But, Sam’s unhappy I’m disagreeing with her morals.” He sighed and leaned against the lockers. “We’ve been in this situation before. It’ll be fine. Anyways, glad you’re feeling better.”

“Thanks.” She shifted awkwardly. “Hey, do you think your parents might be… I don’t know… Look, I need answers….”

“Huh?” It took him a few moments to process exactly what she was trying to ask him. “Oh, of course! My parents enjoy talking about the paranormal and their fringe research, though I don’t know if we can really call it fringe anymore.” The warning bell rang. “Remind me to give you our number after class. You’ll probably want to talk to my mom, but she’d be glad to explain things either over the phone or in person.” After a moment of debating, he added, “If you’d like, I’ll help you carry your things.”

She smirked and tossed him her backpack. “Since you’re offering. Don’t think this makes us friends.”

…

Apparently, Valerie called his parents during lunch break, as he got a text from his mother before school was out to escort her to their home. Well, that was the plan anyways. Kwan, Valerie’s on again/off again boyfriend, decided he would give her a lift which somehow resulted in Danny getting a rid home. He expected the ride to be awkward, but without Dash’s presence, Kwan happily chatted with him. 

Once they arrived, Kwan headed home, which left Danny to play host until his parents emerged from the lab. His dad happily introduced himself to Valerie as his mother pulled him aside.

“Sorry we took a bit longer than expected, Danny,” his mother apologized as she fondly watched her husband. “We had an unusual reading on one of our machines that we were trying to identify.”

“Should we be worried?”

“It was probably nothing. It’s not uncommon for our equipment to pick up random fluctuations.” She brushed his bangs out of the way. “I should go rescue your friend from your father.” Deciding it wouldn’t be polite to listen in, Danny excused himself before heading upstairs to work on his history assignment. 

About an hour later, the home phone rang. Danny didn’t think anything of it until his mother told him to pick up. Odd. Most of the people he knew would just send him a text. Maybe it was a family member? He vaguely remembered his mom saying his aunt was supposed to call soon. Figuring that’s who it was, he headed downstairs to talk to whoever it was.

When he answered, he was surprised to hear the voice of Sam’s mother. “Oh, hi Mrs. Manson. What can I do for you?”

“Is Samantha over there?” Although her normal arrogance was there, she almost sounded worried. “We’re supposed to attend an event tonight, and of course, she vanishes. She left her room in a right state.”

“Sorry Mrs. Manson, but Sam isn’t here. We had a minor fight last week, so she really hasn’t wanted to talk to me for the last few days.”

“Oh?” It wasn’t very often the woman’s surprise didn’t sound like she stepped in something foul. “And here I could have sworn she said something about researching something on your behalf. Nevertheless, if you happen to hear from her, please let her know she needs to contact me.”

“Will do,” he promised, but what on earth could Sam have been researching for him?

“Well then, good… wait, Samantha’s grandmother wishes to speak with you.”

Grandma Manson wanted to speak with him? That couldn’t be good. Even though she was mostly bound to her power scooter, the woman remained a force of nature. Usually, she used her powers to benefit Sam’s independence, but she usually terrified those who angered her. Danny happened to be present the day she went after a particularly nosy neighbor with her cane. 

“Hello, Daniel.” Oh great, the full name. Grandma Manson was definitely upset with him, but her voice didn’t hold anger. Instead, she seemed to be trying to keep her voice even.

“What can I do for you? This isn’t about the cookies contaminated with ectoplasm, is it? That was an honest to God mistake.” He had apologized, repeatedly, for accidentally bringing her contaminated cookies a couple weeks prior. As much as Sam’s parents abhorred his parents’ cooking, Grandma Manson loved his mother’s cookies. 

The woman chuckled. “You’ve already paid your dues for that one. However,” all mirth vanished from her voice, “I know the two of you, as well as Tucker, experienced something beyond our realm of understanding at the beginning of the school year.” She stopped him when he tried to protest. “Don’t try to fool this old woman. Those of us with one foot in the grave are more sensitive to the happenings of the other side. Sam has been researching the Kabbalah as a result.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what…”

“You’d probably call it Jewish mysticism.” It sounded as if Grandma Manson rolled her eyes. “There are different aspects of it, but I believe she’s looking into the Practical side. I think she’s tried to preform magic.”

That threw Danny for a loop. While he knew Sam was interested in the occult, other than trying her hands at some divination and a few Ouija board sessions, she had avoided practicing magic. Also, was it possible to have a practical side of mysticism? “Err… that’s news to me.”

“Listen to me. I don’t know what my granddaughter was trying to achieve, but I’m worried she did something that went awry. I’ll see what I can find on my end, but can you please look for her?”

“I… I can do that. You’ll be the first one to know when I find her,” he promised as unease filled him. “I’ll have Tucker see if he can ping her phone for a location.” After saying his ‘goodbyes’, Danny texted Tucker a brief summary of what happened before he went to find his parents in the lab.

xxxxx

Sam blinked a few times as she slowly regained consciousness. Trying to get answers to how to more peacefully save those Wraiths took more out of her than she expected. She had hurriedly prepared what she needed before hand. Or maybe it was the act itself? Nah, there was such a small chance it’d work anyways.

Oh, right. Wasn’t she supposed to go to that thing? Might as well get up and get ready. Her mother would be barging into her room soon anyways. 

As her vision came into focus, she found herself staring up at a green sky. That was weird. Wait, green? Scrambling to stand, she found herself in a clearing of sickly-looking trees covered in strange purple, almost black vines. The leaves didn’t rustle, nor could the sounds of any animals be heard.

“Oh… Oh shit. This… this is the world of the dead, isn’t it?” 

How in the world did she get here? She was just trying to get information from the dead. Was this because she substituted ingredients? It wasn’t like she had some of the ingredients she was supposed to use. They really needed to include warnings that vegan substitutions would have unexpected results.

Ah, she could rant about that later when she was safe. Right now, she needed to find a way home. The longer she stayed, the less likely she’d be able to get home in one piece, or at all. Frostbites warnings of what could happen to unwary humans echoed in her mind. 

She needed to call Danny. There was no telling if her phone would somehow work in that was probably best considered a parallel dimension, but it was better than nothing. Static mostly greeted her when she tried to call, but after a few seconds, she could hear something that did sound like her boyfriend’s worried voice. 

“Danny? Can you hear me?” she asked in a whispered rush. “I don’t know how, but I’m somehow in the world of the dead. I… I don’t know where. It kinda looks like that forest we saw, but I don’t know if it is.” 

She glanced around again as Danny’s garbled voice replied something she couldn’t understand. If she was going to get out of this place, she was going to need to get a better idea of her surroundings. Sitting still wasn’t her style. 

“Danny, I can’t understand you. There’s too much static. Ow!”

It almost felt like bee or something similar stung her hand. Glancing down, she found the tip of one of those vines in her hand. And it seemed to be wriggling into her skin. Pulling it out, it angrily waved before it tried going after her other hand. Glancing around, she realized there were other vines unwinding themselves from the trees. This… this wasn’t good. 

“Hey, Danny, I’m going to have to call you back, and you might have to come get me sooner than later.” 

=================================================================

The Kabbalah is sometimes translated as “mysticism” or “occult knowledge”. It’s a type of Jewish mysticism. There are three main aspects of it: investigative, experimental, and practical. Investigative involves seeking hidden knowledge (interestingly, they’ll use and expand upon scientific ideas and theories). Experimental is seeking a mystical experience. And practical, which is what I’m focusing on here, involves rituals/magic for gaining and using power to influence the world. Please bear in mind that this is a very simplistic explanation. 

Much of what I’m drawing from regarding the practical magic originates in an ancient text called Sepher-ha-razim… I don’t want to call it a spell book, but that’s kinda what it is. The rituals are very, very specific and involved. Mistakes in the rituals are not explicitly mentioned, but due to the power being invoked, it’s not a stretch to say unexpected and potentially dangerous results can occur. Please do not ask for details – magic makes me uneasy. I’ll talk about components and intended outcomes, but I don’t want to go into detail about incantations and rituals. 

As a side note: I can’t believe I need to say this. If you need help with researching the paranormal, folklore, or mythology, I can help find you a starting point. Or if you want to bounce off ideas regarding how a legend might fit into your fic, that’s fine. Just don’t expect me to do all the research for you.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Communication can be a good thing, but only if it works.
> 
> Chapter warning: This chapter might fall into the realm of body horror at times. Also, light mentions of gore

“The line disconnected….” Danny blankly stated as he removed his cell phone from his ear and stared at it. After a few moments, he glanced up at his parents, who seemed anxious for an update. “I could barely hear her through the static. I’m… I’m not sure if I should be worried or not. Should… should I try to call her back?”

To his knowledge, there really weren’t many places in Amity that acted as a dead zone for phones. The only one that came to mind was one of the underground hallways of the local mall, which had been boarded up after the owners heard rumors it was being used for drug use.

His mother frowned. “It is possible she just snuck out of her house again, but I’m surprised the signal was that bad. You said Tucker is trying to see if he can find her phone?” As much as his mother didn’t like how Tucker’s skills were borderline illegal on a good day, she always acknowledged his skills. “Did you get a response from him yet?” When Danny shook his head, she turned toward his dad. “Jack, do we have anything that can specifically track radio waves?”

His dad tapped his chin for a few moments before sprinting to the bookshelf in the corner of the lab. After grabbing one of the binders, he walked back over after flipping it open. “No… no… no… Oh, I forgot we invented this one…. No… No…”

“You guys actually have a list of everything you made?”

His mother gave him a cheeky smile. “Why wouldn’t we? Everything we make that doesn’t immediately get destroyed in one manner or another gets catalogued. Although, I’ll admit we don’t always know where we end up setting them afterwards. I think at least half of them have ended up in the weapons vault.”

“Wait, there’s a weapons vault?” As much as he wanted to focus on making sure Sam wasn’t in any danger, that tidbit threw him for a loop. “For how long?”

“We installed it five years ago. It’s that iron door under the stairs.”

“That’s what that is? I thought that had something to do with the security system you tried making.”

Before his mother got a chance to respond, his dad handed her the binder and pointed to something in it. “The Fenton Asunder. It’s a little old, but it’s probably our best bet.”

His mother nodded. “I agree. If Tucker can’t get a read on her location, we’ll have Danny try ringing Sam’s phone and see if the Asunder can get a read on it.”

About a half an hour later, Tucker called him. Instead of the cherry greeting he’d normally get, Danny received an earful of cursing. Tucker ranted almost a full ten minutes before he calmed enough to explain why he was so upset. The modified tracking system he normally used to find lost electronics failed. So, he switched to using the local cell towers to try to triangulate it. That failed too.

“Danny, I should have been able to get some sort of reading using the tower pings,” he huffed. “I don’t know how her phone called yours or from where.”

After relaying Tucker’s findings to his parents, they shared a look and immediately went to find their invention. After a lot of noise and more than a few angry grumbles from his dad, the device was eventually located in the weapons vault. It looked like someone stuck a bunch of spikes in a metal colander which, knowing his parents, might have been the case. 

Once all the calibrations on the thing were finished, they instructed Danny to try calling Sam again. While she didn’t pick up, he at least managed to get her voicemail. While it didn’t have the same static as earlier, her recording sounded distorted. He repeated the call five more times with the same result as his parents did something with the machine. 

“Well… it definitely got something,” his mother mentioned as she glanced at the readings the Asunder sent to one of the computers. “However, it’s going to take a while for our programs to make sense of any of that.”

“How long?” Danny winced as he realized how shaky his voice sounded. 

“Enough time for us to get something to eat.”

“Oooh! Didn’t you say you were making a ham stake today?” his dad exclaimed before racing up the stairs. “I’ll go get it!”

xxxxx

“Damn vines!” Sam snapped as another one tried wrapping itself around her boot as she took a few moments to catch her breath. Deciding staying in the clearing was probably a bad idea, she ran into the woods in hopes of trying to find a way out of it. Sure, that put her in the path of more of the vampiric and possibly undead vines, but they moved slow enough she could usually avoid them. The two problems were how quietly they moved and the sheer amount of them.

Unlike most vines, these ones didn’t seem to be rooted on or near any of the trees. Instead, they came from a source deeper in the forest. Her gut instinct was to travel opposite of whatever that source was, but the way the vines moved made that difficult.

Pushing forward, she kept her eyes open for evidence of the end of the tree line. Perhaps if she could get there, she could find her way home. Or maybe find a friendly ghost who could help her. Frostbite did mention that a lot of ghosts would love to kill a human, but she’d rather take her chances with something that could be reasoned with than zombie vines. 

There! Ahead of her appeared to be some sort of break in the tree line.

Running at full speed, she reached it in what felt like only a few seconds. In front of her appeared to be a rolling plain of short grasses and a few bushes. Short, gnarled trees dotted it. Feeling immediately safer, she sprinted as far away from the tree line as she could before getting winded. Turning around, she found the vines angrily swaying, but the didn’t leave the tree line.

“Well, one problem solved,” she sighed as she absently scratched the original injury. “Who would have thought trying to conjure a spirit for answers would get me spirited away? Guess that’s why the process is so important. Wonder if Mrs. Fenton will know how things went wrong? I’ll ask her when I get home. I’ll try to call Danny again.” 

Pulling out her phone, she found a notification of a few missed calls from Danny and a text from Tucker she couldn’t open. Puzzled over the lack of notification, she tried calling back as she wandered through the grass. One of the nearby trees caught her attention as the line connected. “Danny! Can you hear me?”

Static filled her ears, just like the previous time. Danny’s concerned voice filtered through some of the breaks, but she couldn’t make out anything he said. Did he know she was in the land of the dead? Or that she was even missing?

No, she wasn’t going to let it get to her. She’d prove to him and everyone else she could handle herself in a paranormal situation without any help. Deciding she needed a few moments to rest and clear her mind, she let herself sit near one of the trees. 

“Ah, so it is a flesh walker who has intruded upon my realm. It has been many years, possibly even centuries since the last one.” 

Sam immediately stood and examined the area. There were no signs of movement, but she could have sworn she heard a voice. “Hello?” she hesitantly answered. “I didn’t mean to intrude, but I’m lost.”

Laughter, which seemed to come from the very ground around her, rang out. “Lost you say? Flesh walkers usually approach from the outside of the forest and head in, not the other way around. Perhaps you sought me out.”

“Well… I had hoped to talk to someone from your realm, but I don’t exactly know how that brought me here.” Maybe honesty would be the best policy with, well, whatever it was. She still couldn’t see the source of the voice. 

“Oh, and what would the living want of the dead?” the almost pleasant curiosity of its voice disappeared as irritation replaced it. “Many have tried in the past. All of them wanted to control and destroy.”

She gulped. “That… that’s not what I want at all! I was hoping someone knew a way to save the Wraiths that didn’t involve destroying them.”

“Wraiths, you say? Remnants from the King’s rule? Or… or perhaps someone is trying to resurrect.” The ground raised and shifted. A being made from dirt and vines slowly appeared. “It is rare for flesh bags to know of events in this world.”

Sam didn’t miss how it now called her a ‘bag’ as opposed to a ‘walker.’ Whatever this being was, she was quickly losing its favor. “Maybe we can trade information? I could tell you what I know, and you could point me in the direction of where I need to go to get out of your way.”

It snickered at her. “You would be much more useful as nourishment for me. As your blood strengthens me, I will learn your memories, and as your human life fades, your new one in this world will begin.”

“Yeah, that’s not really an option for me.”

“You don’t have a choice in the matter. My vines already planted one of my seeds in your flesh. It will only be a matter of time before the process starts and you become a permanent fixture in my garden. Don’t worry. I will care for you lovingly, as if you were born as one of my children.”

“Seeds? What…. What do you mean?” Sam glanced down at her arm to find what appeared to be roots growing from the wound from earlier. Horrified, she tried pulling them off, but the didn’t budge. “What are you doing to me?”

“Having you take root. It’s much easier for me to collect nutrients that way. You might live for years in a partially human form, supplying me with nutrients while I nurture your new form.” It waved what could pass as more of a spade than a hand at the plain. “You see the trees? They were once other trespassers who are now in a more useful form.”

No, there was no possible way that this ghost just suggested… It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be possible.

Horrified at the implications, she turned to look at the tree behind her. It looked like a normal tree, but its bark made a pattern which almost looked like face twisted in agony. Two of its branches held an unusual shape almost as if they were arms. No! No, it couldn’t be a person. Stumbling away from it, she screamed and ran. 

xxxxxx

“The police had to call us now, of all times?” Danny complained as he sat in the back of the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle (GAV). While they jokingly called it an RV, it was basically the equivalent of a tank.

During dinner, he received a second call from Sam which was no better than the first one. It didn’t give him any further clues. To make matters worse, the police called shortly afterwards to request assistance as there were concerns another Wraith was in the area. Instead of letting him stay at home, his parents brought him with them.

“Sweetie, you know that we can’t do anything about Sam until the data gets extracted and converted into a more readable form,” his mother told him from the passenger seat. “Until then, we are going to help the police try to find where the Wraith went. Jack, you need to turn here.”

“On it, Sweet Cheeks!” The GAV lurched as his dad rounded the corner. “You okay back there, Danny?”

“Thankfully, I remembered to strap myself in,” Danny grumbled. “Can you please take turns at normal speeds?”

“Not this time! We got a report that people might be in danger, so it’s imperative we get there as soon as possible!”

Danny so wanted to state his dad’s driving was probably far more dangerous to the population than one of the Wraiths, but it wasn’t worth it. Instead, he decided to ask his mom why the police thought there was another one in the area. Except for the thing that was masquerading as Maura, there hadn’t been any recent reports. 

“It wasn’t announced yet, but the police found another dead body killed in the same way as the others,” his mom explained as she tossed him what appeared to be one of the miniaturized ecto-lasers. “Since the body was fresh and there was a witness who reported something weird, they wanted to call us in as backup.”

“Okay, but aren’t they going to think it’s weird that I’m with you?”

“About that… Danno, if we gave you one of the communicators, would you be able to invisibly scout around the area while we talk to the police? Maddie, I see police cars. Is this the place?”

“Yeah, oh… I didn’t realize we’d be traveling to the warehouse district.” His mother’s voice fell as she realized where they were. “There are far too many places to hide for my liking. We could easily be ambushed.”

After unbuckling himself, Danny pushed his way to the front. He wasn’t as familiar with the warehouse district as other parts of town. It had a bad rap due the regular reports of industrial accidents and rumors drug dealers had moved into the area. From what he could tell, most of the buildings appeared to be similar, but there was no telling what could lurk inside. What appeared to be shipping containers could be seen a little further down the road.

A few police cars were parked on the street. The officers were gathered, most likely in discussion, but they separated as the RV approached. Not wanting to be noticed, Danny ducked behind the front seat.

“Do you want me to start scouting now?” he whispered to his mom as his dad began what could only be described as an elaborate parking ritual. For whatever reason, Jack Fenton was very particular about where the GAV was placed when it wasn’t in their driveway or a normal parking space. 

“That would be wonderful,” his mother responded as she handed him some sort of modified earbud. “That’s a Fenton Phone.” She poked the Fenton logo on the side which appeared to turn it on. “It’s like a Greentooth device. When you need to get out attention, just tap and hold the button under the logo. It makes a beeping sound on the line.”

“Got it.” He shifted to his other form before taking it. With his luck, he’d somehow fry the thing during the transformation. Once it was attached and functioning, he saluted his awed parents and vanished from view. His aim was to phase through the top of the GAV, but his head unexpectedly collided with the metal. “Ow! What the fu… I mean hell… I mean, damn it! Sorry.”

His mother tried to glare at his use of language, but she could barely contain her giggles behind her hand. His father openly laughed. 

“Sorry ‘bout that. I thought you knew we coated it in an agent that repels most paranormal entities. Wouldn’t want some old spook sneaking up on your parents, right?” his dad explained as he opened the door.

“Are you alright? That sounded like it hurt.” When his mother received confirmation he was okay, she let him know she needed to open the backdoors to unload equipment. He’d be able to sneak out then. 

Once he was finally free of the GAV, he floated into the air to get a better view. The area was mostly on a grid system, but most of the warehouses were at least partially surrounded by fencing. Junk, debris, machinery, and various containers littered the area. It was going to be a nightmare to search so he might as well get started. 

He lowered himself to about ten yards above the tallest building and began a preliminary search for any signs a Wraith might be there. Nothing stood out to him as he passed over the first half of the buildings. That changed as he approached his sixth. 

Large dark splotches could be seen on some of the equipment. He almost brushed it off as rust until he caught a whiff of a foul scent. Gagging as he recognized it, he floated a few feet higher as he tried to collect himself. That was the smell of death and rot, and it was something he hoped he’d never have to smell again. 

While it was possible the smell came from rats or other animals, he still should double check it as a precaution. Even if it wasn’t directly related to a Wraith, it could still be something that required the officers’ attention… and they were just a couple blocks away. 

After steeling himself, he slipped into the building and immediately lost control over his invisibility. The smell was even worse inside! With his eyes watering and stomach turning, he glanced around. There were heaps of what appeared to be bone covered with blood and other things he really didn’t want to think about. Yeah, he definitely needed to call his parents.

“M-mom… I found something.”

“Oh, and what exactly did you find, son?”

Danny started. Recognizing the voice, he whipped around to find Plasmius floating near the wall. His nose crinkled as he slowly approached. “What in the blazes is that god awful smell?” The specter glanced around for a few moments before settling his gaze on the piles. His expression morphed from distain to disgust. “Tell me, Daniel, is this a result of those things?”

============================================================

Notes:  
The vines were inspired by a few different legends. You have the various man-eating trees (the most famous was in Madagascar). There was a report of a vampire vine in Nicaragua. And in Ireland, you have the hungry grass. 

Hungry grass supposedly makes you feel like you’re starving to death, and it can kill if you can’t get out of it. Some legends state it’s a fey prank. Others say it grows over where a corpse didn’t receive a proper burial. 

In Greek folklore, you have a lot of people being changed into plants. Sometimes for punishment, sometimes to escape. Also, there are some fey myths of people being changed into animals when they disrespected the Wild Hunt, so it still falls under that same vein, and Undergrowth kind of is a vengeful forest/earth spirit. 

Added fun fact: I would also like to point out that there is a Romani legend from the Balkans that says that pumpkins and watermelons can become vampires if left out too long in the right conditions. 

Danny’s attempt to not cursing is inspired by friends in real life and my dad’s reactions to them trying not to swear in front of him and failing miserably.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A talk, attempted escape, battle, and a deal.
> 
> Chapter warning: more body horror. However, you can argue there's quite a bit in the original series that's somehow kid friendly.

Danny started. Recognizing the voice, he whipped around to find Plasmius floating near the wall. His nose crinkled as he slowly approached. “What in the blazes is that god awful smell?” The specter glanced around for a few moments before settling his gaze on the piles. His expression morphed from distain to disgust. “Tell me, Daniel, is this a result of those things?”

“Why do you care?” Danny snapped. Why in the world was Plasmius even here? Sure, he said something about looking into the Wraiths on their last meeting, but this was the same guy, well ghost, that experimented on people.

Plasmius gave a noncommittal hum as his eyes swept along the piles. “To be honest, I hadn’t until one attacked one of my human associates. But with the discovery of this,” he wrinkled his nose again, “changes things.”

“How so? Wait, I don’t want to know.” For all Danny knew, these associates of his could be the ones who helped him get his test subjects. That was a can of worms he didn’t need to open at the moment. Maybe later, but definitely not now.

“Look, I’d like to chat, but I’m a bit more worried about the monster that might be here,” he explained as he turned his attention back to the rafters. The things didn’t seem to be able to fly, but they could climb. He really didn’t want to have one sneak up on him again. Being bitten once was enough. “There are police in the area looking for it and my parents.”

“Your parents are here? I’m surprised you’re willing to be here in that form.”

“Look, I don’t have time for this, whatever this is.” Danny snapped as he turned his attention back to the other ghost and gestured to himself. “My parents know about me. I’m helping them find this thing as fast as possible so we can stop it, and then get back to looking for my girlfriend, who is missing, by the way. So, unless you’re going to help, this needs to be postponed.”

Plasmius almost seemed shocked at his outburst, but his expression soon turned calculating. “Then let me assist. I can help you find either this Wraith or your friend. Take your pick.”

“What’s in it for you?” Why in the world would this ghost offer to help him? Plasmius struck him as the type of character who would only act if it benefited him in some way.

The specter smiled. “While I am glad to see your wariness, it won’t do you any good here. My offer is relatively benign. While I don’t have much interest in this friend of yours, I am still hoping you will at least consider my previous proposal. However, I do realize I may have previously been acting rashly. I forget humans have different sensibilities.”

“Rashly? Dude, you kidnapped us!”

“If it wasn’t me, it would have been others. Remember, it wasn’t just you who were abducted that day. At least I didn’t try to eat you.” He grinned, showing off his fangs.

Wow, that wasn’t very reassuring. However, he was wasting time, and the longer he remained distracted, the more time it would take to find the Wraith and conversely, Sam. And it wasn’t like he had a lot of options.

As his breath began to mist in front of him, Danny decided to take the devil’s deal. “Look, if, and only if, you help me figure out where Sam is, I’ll reconsider you not being a complete fruitloop.”

Plasmius smiled. “Again, those human sensibilities come into play, but I am fine with that as a starting point. I’ll contact you if I find anything.” He gave a slight bow before adding. “And Daniel, watch out on your left.”

“My left?” Danny repeated as the ghost vanished. A chill raced up his spine. Glancing to his left, he saw the shadow of something lurking in the rafters before it launched itself at him.

Xxxxxxx

“That’s it. I’m officially screwed,” Sam stated as she realized she couldn’t go any further. Behind her lay the plain, field, whatever someone wanted to call it, and the ghost with its evil vines. In front of her was a drop with no discernable end. Beyond that was an expanse of nothing but swirls of green and the occasional purple with a few floating islands which were too far away to even consider as a means of escape.

She glanced at her right left hand. Roots were still protruding from the injury near her wrist and appeared to have spread into her arm. Some of the veins around it were raised, and a tentative touch suggested the roots were beginning to invade them. The tips of her fingers were starting to get a greenish undertone. 

Deciding she deserved a quick rest while she considered her options, she sat near the ledge. She really didn’t want to become a tree. Most of the transformation stories she’d read made the idea of a transformation exciting, but the reality was much different. She didn’t currently feel any physical discomfort, but there was a chance that could change. That one tree… she shuddered as the image of a face in its bark came to the front of her mind. Whoever that used to be must have been in pain. 

Had Danny been the same way? He barely spoke about his first transformation, and other than an occasional comment, he didn’t really talk about what it felt like. How could she be so stupid? Suddenly becoming at least partially inhuman had to be traumatic on some level. When she got back, she was going to give him a hug and think about taking up root…

Wait… Taking up root? What caused that errant thought?

Worried, she glanced down at her infected hand which had been resting on her lap. The roots must have recognized they were near the ground and started to burrow into it. Wrenching them out of the ground, she realized they had grown several inches out of the skin during her short rest. 

Deciding she wouldn’t be able to risk sitting again, she picked herself up and decided to search the perimeter of the area. There had to be a bridge or something connecting it to… well, somewhere else. If not, maybe she could find a floating island close enough were jumping to it wouldn’t cause her immediate death.

xxxxx

“Out son is really something else, you know that Mads?”

Jack’s voice forced Maddie to look away from the Fenton Finder for a moment. After being briefed by the officers, she and her husband carefully patrolled the perimeter of the area. In the meantime, the police stood by near their vehicles. Although the officers wanted to help, due to their limited previous involvement with the paranormal, they agreed to stay back until notified. 

Maddie frown at her husband. He didn’t seem as giddy as he tended to be when the paranormal was involved. Instead, he sounded proud and amazed. Wondering where his train of thought was heading, she prompted him to continue. 

He moved his hands as he tried to find the words. “Well, he’s making the best of what happened to him. He still gets fidgety when we ask him to demonstrate something, but when we asked him to help with this, he jumped right on it. I know I get excited about what he can do, but if I was in his shoes, I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it.”

She smiled at her husband. “Danny really is something special,” she agreed, “but I can’t help but feel something is going to go wrong. There’s so much we don’t know about what happened to him and what it means for his future.”

“But that’s not something we can predict,” Jack pointed out as he scratched his head. “He might end up being just fine, just a little more ghostly than the average person. Other people who’ve been touched by the other side have lived long and successful lives.”

“Hope for the best and prepare for the worst?” Maddie would forever be in awe of her husband’s eternal optimism. He knew their son could very well be taken from them at any time, but he decided to focus his energy on the best possible outcome. 

She, on the other hand, couldn’t push those negative thoughts from her head. Danny’s situation, condition, what exactly should they call it? He was still alive, but already had one foot in the grave. Most people who were marked by the supernatural who ended up living successful lives didn’t have as much contamination, so to speak. There was always a risk he’d be pulled to the other side and never be able to come back. Or his humanity would vanish over time.

“So, what do you think happened to Sam?” Jack questioned as they rounded one of the fence corners.   
“Do you really think her grandmother’s theory is right?”

“I hope not. Sam should be smart enough not to dabble in things like that, but she was upset about the Wraiths. Maybe she was trying to find an alternative?” Maddie mused. In the years they knew the girl, she tended to take action on topics of which she felt passionate. She couldn’t remember how many protests and petitions she’d help organize.

The Fenton Phone in her ear buzzed. “Oh, Danny’s trying to get our attention. Jack, do you have the GPS tracker for it?”

“Right here!” He pressed a couple buttons. “Looks like he’s a few buildings down from here.”

“Good. Wait…” Maddie frowned as Danny’s voice came over the Fenton Phones. It was distorted, which might have been a result of his condition – they had only tested them on regular humans. However, it almost seemed as if he was speaking to someone else. Glancing at the Fenton Finder, she noticed she now had three readings. One was Danny, but what were the other ones? “Jack, I don’t think he’s alone. We need to hurry!”

They took off running towards where the GPS and the Finder indicated her son was. During the run, she paged officer Metzger and gave them the coordinates where they were heading.

The sounds of a struggle met them as they reached the door to the warehouse. After doublechecking to see if her and Jack’s ecto-guns were ready, they nodded to each other. Jack took that as the signal to break through the already decrepit door. 

In front of them, they found Danny pinned to the ground with a Wraith on top of him. While it didn’t look like Danny had been injured yet, Maddie wasn’t going to let that happen again. “Eat hot Fenton Ray, ectoplasmic scum!” Her aim was true and knocked the thing off her son.

Danny suck through the ground before appearing next to her a moment later. “Thanks for the save.”

“Where’s the other one?” she asked as Jack started blasting at the Wraith. “I saw three readings on the Finder.”

“Huh? Oh, that wasn’t a Wraith.” When she glanced at him, he just shook his head. “I’ll tell you after this is finished, okay?”

“I’m going to hold you to that, mister. Can you cover your dad while I get read to take the shot?”

“On it!” Danny created a shield in front of his dad just in time to prevent the Wraith from swiping at him. Once it bounced off, the shield was dropped and both him and Jack sent their own blasts at it. Both hit true, forcing the thing to stumble back. 

It was enough of a pause for Maddie. A well-placed blast put a hole through its stomach. Snarling, the Wraith took two steps towards her before crumbling to dust. Just like the previous one, a pale whisp of a flame could be seen for a few moments before vanishing. 

“I didn’t hear a voice this time…” Danny mumbled as she approached him and her husband. “I wonder how long it had been trapped like that.”

“So, Dann-o,” their son yelled and stumbled in the air when his dad spoke, “I think I heard you say there was only one Wraith?”

He nodded. “Plasmius was here.”

“I thought I heard you talking to someone. What did it want?” The more Maddie heard about this Plasmius character, the less she liked. It seemed to be able to find her son whenever it wanted.

“…He just wanted to talk.” Danny glanced towards the door. “I think the police are almost here. You probably don’t want them to see me, right? Do you want me to scout the other buildings while you talk to them?” He gestured towards the corner of the room. “That thing left a lot here.”

Maddie gasped at the pile of bones. How did she miss that? How many people did that thing kill? “Y-yes, you might as well. Let us know if you find anything else. Please be careful. I don’t want you getting attacked again.”

He rolled his eyes. “If it hadn’t been for Plasmius, I wouldn’t have been.” He then vanished from sight.

Sighing, Maddie went to investigate the bones while Jack went back outside to flag the police. There was no telling how many bones were there. Some seemed to have been gnawed on. Was that from stray dogs or from the Wraiths? Was it possible this is something Wraiths did after the fact? Ugh, there was so much she didn’t know. But, from what she could tell, some of the bones did appear to be fresh while others seemed much older. 

“My god!”

Maddie turned to see office Metzger leading the others into the building. He’d removed his hat and was staring slack jawed at the pile. After a moment, he made the sign of the cross before he barked at Kiziah, who appeared behind him, to call forensics. 

“Is that… that thing gone?” Metzger questioned as he regained his composure. 

“You betcha!” Jack grinned as he moved to her side. “Maddie’s one heck of a shot!”

The officer nodded as O’Brian appeared beside him. “Sir, I don’t have to know the specifics to be able to tell you the number of deceased is far greater than our list of missing persons and murders believed to have been committed by those things.”

“I agree.” Metzger pinched the bridge of his nose. “Contact Elmerton and the other surrounding towns to see if they’d be willing to provide their lists of the missing. Try to keep this on the down low. We don’t need the media involved. We’re lucky they’ve only done a few stories so far on the possible connections. If this gets out, it’ll be a circus.”

“If I may interrupt, sir.” Kiziah had returned. “There are already news vehicles outside the perimeter. Seems like someone tipped them off. We’ll have to give some sort of statement. Perhaps just a general statement?”

“Curse those rats. Can you get our press liaison on the phone? We’ll have to bring her in and brief her.”

“On it.”

Metzger turned back to her and Jack. “Sorry for getting you involved in all of this. I’m glad you were able to handle this creature too. Do you have any clue how many of these things might be out there? Or what they are? Also, would you happen to know anything about the phantom those girls who escaped from that other one saw? We’d like to know if there’s another hostile in the area.”

“Phantom? Oh, the black and white ghost!” Jack excitedly shouted. “We weren’t too sure of him at first, but he helped protect us against that other one. Said they were called both Wraiths and Collectors.”

Nudging her husband as non-discreetly as possible, Maddie took over. “We’re not too sure of his origins, but he appears to be a young protective spirit, possibly a victim of one of these things. We’ve been able to get a little bit of information out of him.”

“So, not a hostile?” The officer rubbed his chin as he considered the thought.

Well, since the police already had some information about her son, she might as well try to make sure they don’t consider him dangerous. “From what we can tell, no. We’ve encountered him a couple times on patrols since that incident with the cabin. He’ll cooperate with you as long as you aren’t trying to hurt him, but he’s somewhat hard to understand, even with those who have a better connection with the paranormal.” She then provided the information Danny gave her regarding the Wraiths. 

“That… that’s troubling,” Metzger finished writing his notes before continuing. “If this Phantom is correct, we might have an even bigger issue waiting for us on the horizon.” Another officer tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something to him. Once he went on his way, Metzger frowned. “It appears our press liaison and forensics team have arrived. If you excuse me, I must brief them. Please let us know if you find anything else out. Oh, and if possible, please try to get out of here discretely. I don’t want the press finding out you’re involved.”

xxxxxxx

“You want me to do what exactly?”

Vlad, currently in his guise as Plasmius, repressed the urge to roll his eyes at his contracted employee. While Skulker had a knack for hunting down any piece of information or informant the billionaire needed, he wasn’t afraid to complain about jobs that he believed were underneath him. 

“It’s true it’s a simple scouting mission, but it holds a three-fold purpose,” Vlad explained as he tapped a button on his computer. “As I’ve mentioned before, I’m hoping to get my eventual heir back in my good graces. Per the wiretaps I have placed throughout his home, I heard an interesting piece of information. Daniel partially verified it when we recently spoke. It appears his little girlfriend decided to dabble with forces she had no hope of controlling and stumbled into our world.”

“And I take it you have an idea of where she is.” Skulker narrowed his eyes. “Why not ask me to bring her back directly? She’s already familiar with me due to Ember.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not so simple in this instance.” Vlad brought up a rough map of part of the realm of the dead, or the Zone, as it was sometimes called. “My readings suggest she found her way here.”

Skulker’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “That’s Undergrowth’s domain, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and unfortunately, he isn’t kind to any form of trespasser.” Vlad clenched his jaw. He’d been trying to figure out a way to possibly make some form of aliment with such a powerful ghost for years, but Undergrowth cared little for the outside world. He cared less for anyone who dared trample into his domain without being invited. Rumors about what he did to ghost and human alike over the years whispered through ever crack of the Zone. 

“However, my readings may not be accurate. I’d like you to scout to see if you can locate the girl. The Vultures are already heading out, but you’re far more reliable. If she’s not in his domain, feel free to rescue her if you chose. If she is there, report back to me. Secondly, I’d like you to see if there’s anything noticeable, from a safe distance, of course, that I might be able to use for bargaining, if that is the case,” Vlad instructed.

“Sounds reasonable enough,” Skulker agreed, “but you said there was a third purpose behind this?”

“Ah, yes. I’m sure you’re aware of the odd happenings occurring in both the worlds of the living and the dead.”

“I’m assuming you mean the reports of the old abominations stirring. However, the Wraiths haven’t been seen recently.”

“And yet I saw one today while I was speaking with Daniel.” Vlad couldn’t help but give a smug grin at Skulker’s obvious irritation at not knowing how one escaped him. “I’m sure the boy’s parents have already destroyed it. Anyways, the third purpose of this scouting trip is to see if you find any sort of unusual activity. Undergrowth influence in the area would make it easy for undesirables to hide, don’t you think?”

“That makes sense. Am I allowed to destroy any Wraiths I might find?”

“If you think it won’t draw any unwanted attention, feel free. However, I am not going to be happy if you get yourself into a mess because you were indulging yourself. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.” Skulker tapped at a device in his gauntlet. From previous experiences, Vlad guessed the hunter was inputting coordinates. “And payment?”

“Oh, the usual. However, if you provide me with something truly worthwhile, I may decide to remove your girlfriend from my list of potential research subjects permanently.”

If the robotic ghost was surprised, he hid it well. Ember’s protection was one of the biggest reasons he’d agreed to serve under Vlad after all. “Very well. It’s a deal.” 

================================================================================

As previously mentioned, I am on Tumblr now. https://ayamari-no-goshi.tumblr.com/ Feel free to stop by and ask any questions you might have for me.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undergrowth will allow Sam to leave as long as the proper item is traded for her. However, time is slowly running out. 
> 
> Warning: slight body horror mentions in this chapter

Per Sam’s phone, who’s screen had begun glitching strangely over the last half an hour, it had been close to four hours since she somehow wound up beyond the veil. She had spent at least two of those hours walking the perimeter of what appeared to be the territory of a very unfriendly plant-thing ghost. And, the only thing she’d accomplished during her walk so far was exhaustion.

When her last attempt at a rest resulted in the strange roots burrowing into her arms to lengthen, she decided she’d only rest again if she could no longer move. However, fatigue was steadily overwhelming her, forcing her to slow her pace.

Unlike last time, she didn’t have any snacks or water with her. This meant that she had to try to ignore any thirst or hunger she experienced. Frostbite’s warnings of what happened when a human tried eating the food of the dead wrung in her ears. Even if she could find food, it might be worth trying some at this point. Her arm was already infected. 

Speaking of her arm, the roots were now noticeable up to about her elbow. The fingers on that arm were now more of a greenish tinge than peach, and if her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, they almost seemed a little longer and thinner. The roots on the outer part of her arm didn’t seem to have any noticeable change. That was good at least. The last thing she needed was for them to touch the ground and start burrowing again.

Sighing, she tried calling Danny and then Tucker again. Unlike her last attempts, these ones didn’t seem to connect. Uncertain why there was now a change, she decided she’d need to concern the battery. Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be draining too badly. Maybe the rumors that spirits drain batteries were false? Or maybe that only applied when they visited the world of the living?

Pushing those thoughts aside, she glanced out towards the expanse that was this world. While she hadn’t gotten around the entire… well, what appeared to be a floating island yet, she hadn’t seen any signs of land close enough for an attempted escape.

Some time later, she heard what almost sounded like an engine. Glancing up, she saw a familiar robotic figure. 

“Skulker! Please! I know we don’t really get along, but I could really use your help!” she desperately called out to him. His head moved in her direction, but he continued along without further acknowledgement. “JERK!” Grumbling as she kicked a few pebbles, she decided to continue her search.

What felt like a few hundred yards of walking later, she heard something akin to ‘psst.’ Glancing around, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, but from what she knew of this world, that didn’t mean much. So, she stopped and waited. 

Skulker form floated upwards. Instead of landing, he stayed a few yards away from the perimeter. “I heard a rumor a human found its way here, but I didn’t expect it to be one I know.” His eyes seemed to sweep over her and the area.

“Yeah… I decided I wanted to try to be helpful, and this Is what happened. As much as I’d like to understand why you ignored me at first, I’m more interested in getting home at this point. Would you be able to help me?”

He raised an eyebrow. “And this helpfulness landed you in one of the most dangerous places in the Zone. I should be impressed. Undergrowth isn’t known for being kind to anyone or thing that isn’t one of his plants.” The smirk he wore vanished as something loose shifted behind her.

Sam glanced back to see the same figure as before slowly forming out of the ground. Its red eyes focused on them before cocking its head questioning manner. “You must either be a brave or stupid one to come so close to my home,” Undergrowth warned.

Skulker bowed. “My deepest apologies for disturbing you. I original came here for a scouting mission – perhaps you’ve heard that there have been sightings of the old king’s Wraiths and Collectors? I had no intention of coming any closer than needed to your home. However,” he glanced towards Sam, “I happen to be acquainted with that human. Would there be a way to retrieve or even trade for her?”

Undergrowth made what seemed to be a hum though the sound reminded Sam more of rustling leaves. “Another speaks of the King’s abominations. Tell me, what have you learned, or to be more precise, what has the split being you’ve allied yourself with learned?” When Skulker’s eyes widened in surprise, Undergrowth laughed.

After a few coughs, possibly to cover up any unease, Skulker explained, “Our partnership has allowed me to protect both myself and someone close to me. For now, I find it advantageous.”

“Perhaps you are protecting this someone from the split being?”

“You could say that.” He shifted. “However, the Wraiths which were very active a few months ago near where known portals to the Living World regularly open have suddenly disappeared. I caught sight of some underneath your lair. I do not know much about the Collectors and their actions, but my partner has mentioned there seems to be an uptake in human abductions that match with their M.O. The Fright Knight has also been leading the Undead Army in various areas of the Zone.”

Another hum-like noise escaped Undergrowth. “Perhaps a more aggressive approach to trespassers will be needed soon.” It glanced at Sam for a moment before smiling. “If you can find me a replacement for that sack of flesh, I will let you have it. However, I should remind you that if you set foot here without means, you will also find yourself as my nourishment.”

“I… I understand. Thank you.” Skulker bowed again. “If… if I may, my partner would like to speak with you regarding a possible agreement of neutrality.”

The plant-like ghost hissed. “Tell the split being this – it may come to discuss if it desires, but proper respect must be given.” Some of the vines around its form unwrapped and waved angrily before Undergrowth seemed to sink back into the ground. 

A sigh from Skulker seemed to break some of the tension Sam hadn’t realized formed. “Well… it appears that a trade is needed for your return home.”

“Trade…” she repeated. “You… you don’t mean?”

He nodded. “Your freedom will only be gained if your traded for another entity or entities that Undergrowth would deem of equal nourishment.”

Icy chills ran down her spine. “No. Don’t do it! There has to be a better way.”

“Maybe if we had more time, but as it stands, I doubt you’d last long enough to find an alternative method.” Jet-like wings sprouted from his back. “Try not to bother Undergrowth while I’m gone. He is not known for patience.” He then jetted upwards.

….

Sam no longer knew how much time passed. Her phone completely died sometime after Skulker’s departure, and she had no hope of trying to charge it. Instead, she focused on trying to conserve her energy. 

After her last disastrous attempt to sit, she had little desire to try it again, but fatigue was starting to set in. The roots were larger now, both inside and outside her arm. Every once in a while, she could feel them trying to pull her arm downwards, and she could have sworn they tried tripping her once. After some prodding, she could tell they had reached her upper arm. Her fingers were now longer had lost some of their definition, making them appear more root-like. The skin on her hand now had greenish hue, similar to young trees. It surprisingly didn’t hurt. Instead, there seemed to be a growing lack of sensation along with a stiffness she hadn’t previously noticed. 

Since finding a way off the floating island didn’t seem to be feasible, she decided that she’d try appealing to Undergrowth. He already trapped her so what was the worst that could happen? “Err… Mr. Undergrowth, would there be somewhat I might be able to coax you into letting me go? I honestly came here by mistake and didn’t mean to disturb you. Back home I try to campaign for keeping Earth’s plants safe, so I understand why you wouldn’t this place hurt.”

Shifting dirt and rustling answered her as Undergrowth slowly formed. It sneered at her. “I hold no pity for your kind, flesh bag. The living have tried using and controlling the dead over the centuries. Did you not say you had been hoping to gain information from the dead? How are you no different than the others?”

Those words stung. She hadn’t thought she was doing anything wrong. The ritual was for asking a question in a way that would protect her from danger. It wasn’t supposed to do anything to the conjured spirit, but it was designed to summon one against its will. 

“I just wanted to help…” she explained. “We were told those Wraiths were created by dark magic. I only wanted to know if there was a way to save them that didn’t involve destroying them.”

Roots pulled from the ground and surrounded her as Undergrowth hissed. “You were told the way to save them, but that wasn’t good enough. Those creatures were created by warping the soul. The only way to fix would be to destroy the form and let the soul reform. Trying to fix could destroy it entirely.”

“There really isn’t another way?”

“Such greed and arrogance. You have been given the answer you seek, but it’s not enough.” His roots pointed at her as if they were spears set to be thrown.

“Come now, Undergrowth. The sensibilities of humans, particularly of children, are much different than our own.” The new cultured voice came from above. Sam flinched when she caught sight of Plasmius, who had a strange metallic box floating behind him. “My apologies for the interruption. I have brought you a gift – may I set it down?”

When the plant ghost didn’t respond, Plasmius took it as a sign it was okay. He let the box gently fall to the ground. Once it showed no signs of movement, Undergrowth used some of his roots to remove its lid. The metallic smell of blood wafted from it. 

“I accept your gift, split being.”

“Thank you, but before I get to business. My associate wanted to trade for the human. We’ve prepared something. Does he have your permission to bring it to you?” He grinned menacingly in her direction.

Undergrowth’s vines rustled before it spoke. “I accept. The machine can safely bring it.”

At Undergrowth’s words, Skulker came into view carrying another metallic box. He carefully set it down and removed the lid before respectfully moving away from it. There was no smell this time, but Sam could hear rustling. 

Undergrowth slowly moved towards the box and circled it a few times. After a few tense moments, it glanced back and forth between her and Skulker. “I accept this trade,” it hissed. “Take the flesh bag and leave.”

“Thank you!” Skulker bowed before darting forward to grab her.

“Let me go!” she snapped as she struggled. “I didn’t know you were working with him! And what did you trade me for?”

Skulker clamped his over her mouth as he took off. “If you want to live, you need to keep quiet until we get away from his lair. Then you can scream at me all you want while I get you to the Far Frozen.”

As she grudgingly accepted the situation, she caught sight of what was in the box. There were two… no, there were three people in there! They actually traded her for… no! She wasn’t going to accept it! How could she? Those people were going to die because of her!

“Oh, you caught sight of what’s in the box? Err… about that… those are criminals who escaped punishment in your world. Plasmius knew about your passion for various causes and decided that would be the safest bet.” Skulker explained as he removed his hand.

“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse,” she replied as she realized tears were starting to fall down her cheeks. An uncomfortable silence fell between them as he continued flying. After a while, she finally spoke up, “So, you and Plasmius?”

“Yes… I know you and the ghost child have a bad relationship with him. And believe me, if it wasn’t for our agreement, I’d steer clear of him too.” Bitterness colored his voice.

“You mentioned that to Undergrowth too.”

“Let me ask you this, don’t humans usually do anything to protect the ones they care the most about? That’s what got you into this situation, correct?”

“You could say that.” She tried crossing her arms, but the stiffness in the infected one prevent it. “But yeah, a lot of us do. Undergrowth said you’re protecting someone?”

“Yes. Plasmius has an interest in her abilities, and I sold myself to protect her.”

“I see.” She fell silent again. Skulker was a lot more complex than she originally thought. He seemed to know how dangerous Plasmius is, but decided he needed to ally himself with him to protect another. Heck, he even rescued her from Undergrowth at risk to himself. 

After a while, Skulker tapped something on his arm and an image of Frostbite appeared. “I have the girl. We’ll be arriving in ten minutes. She isn’t dressed for your lair. Can you met me with something to keep her warm?”

“Absolutely! How bad is it? You said Undergrowth’s infected her?” Frostbite’s voice came from it.

“Just her arm.”

“Good. We will be able to reverse it in time.”

…..

Sam shivered as Skulker touched down in the lair of the Far Frozen. A few ghosts who looked similar to Frostbite rushed forward and covered her with a warm fur something to protect her from cold. As much as she wanted to protest, she found she couldn’t. She didn’t know where it came from, and it wasn’t a good idea to possibly offend the hospitality of those who were willing to help her. 

The one swept her up in the arms before sprinting to a building she vaguely recognized from her first visit to this realm. She caught sight of Frostbite waiting for them in the doorway. Once inside, he quickly led them to one of the medical rooms. The one carrying her gently placed her on one of the beds while the other busied itself with something in one of the cabinets on the far side of the room.

Frostbite said something to her, but her memories became hazy at that point. Once she came to, she wasn’t exactly certain what they did, but she was grateful. The remnants of the ghostly roots were visible on a nearby table. Just the size of them and the sight of some of her blood splashed on them was enough to make her queasy.

Glancing down at her arm, she found it wrapped in clean bandages. She experimentally wiggled her fingers. The odd stiffness was gone, but everything from her fingers to her shoulder hurt. While she wasn’t certain if the odd discoloration or the other physical changes to her hand was gone, she could at least move everything normally. Inspecting her fingers more closely, they did seem to be their original shape.

“Good, you’re awake!” She jumped at Frostbite’s voice as he came into view. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than I was. Thanks for…” She gestured to the roots.

“Not a problem.” His grin was replaced by a frown. “I’m glad we were able remove it when we were. If they had grown any more, we might not have been. You’re quite lucky to have escaped Undergrowth’s wrath.” He sighed. “As much as I would like to hear the story of how you found yourself there, our time is short. You’ve been in this realm far too long. It’s not currently safe to travel through this realm so we will be using a short cut.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “A short cut?”

“Yes. We discovered that a natural portal will be opening shortly in this lair. Thankfully, it will lead to your home in…. I believe Skulker called it Amity Park? We’re fortunate this portal is here. Anywhere outside of Far Frozen would put you at risk for being attacked again, even with the presence of my guards.” He checked a paper on the table beside him. “Ah, I apologize for cutting our conversation short, but it’s time.”

Frostbite summoned four other yeti-like ghosts. The largest unceremoniously wrapped her in another fur cloak before scooping her in its arms. After nodding at Frostbite, they took her outside. Compared to the almost comfortable temperature of the building, the outside was the same as walking into a blizzard, complete with ice, snow, and a chilly wind. 

A sled, similar to the one she’d previously ridden in, waited for them. Once in, they quickly raced across the frozen landscape. Normally, she’d like to ask questions about them and ghosts in general, but she didn’t really have the heart, not after what Undergrowth said to her. Besides, exhaustion kept threatening to take her, and staying awake took most of her energy. She had no desire to risk falling asleep before she got home.

Eventually, the sleigh stopped, and the ghosts took her out of it. Maybe a minute or two later, the air in front of them seemed to shift and change. 

“Are you ready?” the one holding her asked.

“Absolutely. Thank you for helping me.” The ghost just grunted as it stepped through the now formed portal. 

Sam blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Oh, it had to be late. Just how long was she in there?

The ghost gently put her down and retrieved the fur. “The portal won’t stay open for long. Will you be good on your own?”

She glanced around to see if she could identify her surroundings. If she identified the high school correctly (and she was sure she did), it appeared she was standing on the hill behind the school. Sure, she didn’t have a coat, but it was only about a fifteen-minute walk to Tucker’s from where she was. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks again.”

The ghost nodded before stepping back into the portal. Sam watched it vanish before she ran as fast as her legs and exhaustion would let her. 

As she crossed the road in front of the school, the lone car on the road slowed down. Worried what that might mean, Sam looked for a place to get out of sight. Her fears were quickly displaced as the car window rolled down and a familiar voice shouted her name. 

“Jazz,” she sighed in relief, “I’m glad to see you.”

“Sam? What happened? Danny said you went missing?” Jazz, Danny’s older sister, called out. While Sam wasn't certain why Danny's older sister was back in town, she couldn't bring herself to care. 

The distinctive sound of the car doors being unlocked as she rushed to the passenger side. “I did… I just… Do you think you can take me home?” she asked as she opened the door.

===

Notes: 

Morality is an interesting thing. Sometimes we're forced to go against our own in a way that's difficult to handle. I wanted to explore that a little.

Also, and it might just be me, but it sometimes seems Danny deals with the consequences of Sam's actions more than Sam does. This bothers me a bit which is why I made some of the choice I have for this particular arc.


End file.
